Sorry but I've been away. Sort of. I managed to get a dose of bronchitis. Does it come in doses or is there another word for it? Anyway I spent a few days completely comatose between bed and couch. I'm now trying to get back to normal (with me that's a relative term anyway) so that I can go off to my first tournament tomorrow. I have a title to defend.
I hadn't had bronchitis since my young teenage years so this bout came as an unpleasant surprise. The doc's approach was refreshing though. He gave me a thorough going over and then gave me a prescription for antibiotics but with the proviso that the bronchitis was to run for 7 days first and then if and when the fever broke I would either definitely need them or I would be able to do without them.
On the sixth or seventh night the fever broke whilst I slept. It was just like the 'good old days'. The next morning I felt human enough to be able to change the bedding. I didn't need the antibiotics. Good call doc. One thing I have had over the last week or so, though, is a lot of sleep. And a lot of lethargy. Hence the lack of blogging and the reason for this apology post now.
Tomorrow I'm off to The Veterans. A tournament for the over-sixties (I just crept in - well nearly a decade ago actually but it's been a very fast decade) which is held in Dannevirke. The tournament ends on Sunday and the next one starts on the following Wednesday. It's all go.
Hopefully I'll get some posts done during the next few weeks. If I don't at least you'll know why.
Bye for now.
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That sounds like a wise doc, the best sort to have. Am I wrong or would they be scared of being sued or something in England?
ReplyDeleteAs for "over sixteis" ... well, if you are not over sixty, you must be either sixty or under sixty, so I wouldn't bother too much about being a decade on :)
People complain about the health service in NZ just as they do in the UK. I have absolutely no complaints about either. You are probably correct though Jenny. There is no culture of blame in the way that there is in the US and, now, the UK. I despair of the attitude that it's always someone else's fault. Presumably the doc balanced the damage antibiotics do against the discomfort to me of a good old-fashioned 'crisis'. OK that's being a bit dramatic but I wasn't about to pop my clogs. Sixties: I'm sorry Jenny but my overly-cumbersome verbosity obviously made the reality far more obscure that it really is. I'm 70 next birthday.
DeleteGoodness, poor you. Glad you recovered in time for the tournament.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline. I think I'm fit and well today and so am ready for the off to Dannevirke tomorrow.
DeleteSorry to hear this. Take care of you.
ReplyDeleteMy tame doctor used to give me similar prophylactic antibiotics when the kiddies were little. Use 'em if you need 'em. It's nice to be trusted.
Thanks Katherine. I like it when a doctor treats you as a responsible person. I've been exceptionally fortunate in that respect.
DeleteGB, I think is is called a bout of bronchitis. Our bodies have a way of taking charge to say they are not well. Good luck with the tournament.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol. That sounds better. I think I was suffering from a dose of temporary aphasia (or is it a bout of temporary aphasia?). Oh dear.
DeleteGood to see you have recovered. Good luck with the croquet. Keep your mallet clean.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adrian. I've only played 4 games of AC since I came home (and only 6 in the last nearly seven months) but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. I'm really relaxed. Whatever happens happens.
DeleteA very good doctor indeed!
ReplyDeleteGraham, there is absolutely no need to apologize for a lack of posts. We all have reasons for not posting as frequently as usual every now and then, and blogging should never feel like a duty, and something we need to apologize for when we've not done it.
What matters is that you are well again, and will be able to defend your title.
I think that, in reality, Meike I'm apologising for myself. I suspect others don't mind my absence. I do. I miss Blogland when I'm not here.
DeleteWe miss you when you're not here too! (Missing someone and blaming them for being absent is not the same thing, though...) ♥
DeleteI applaud your doctor. We are facing so much antibiotic resistance that good old rest and nursing needs to come back as acceptable treatment. Glad you are back on form but take care :)
ReplyDeleteYes Fiona. I was very impressed with him too. I shall. I don't want to feel like that again for a while.
DeleteIsn't it just awful to be bed-ridden with sickness?
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you're feeling better and up and about once again....and ready to kick some croquet butt...good luck!
Yes Virginia it's horrible: the lethargy in particular is so horrible.
Deleteglad you are feeling better. Take care and enjoy the tournament
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol.
DeleteGlad you're better, GB, and I too applaud your doctor. Far too many antibiotics are precribed.
ReplyDeleteVery good luck with the tournament.
I agree Frances. And thanks for your tournament wishes.
DeleteI know here in Sweden there's been much talk in later years of reducing "routine" prescriptions of antibiotics. And of course if the cause of infection is virus rather than bacteria then antibiotics don't help anyway. Sounds like good strategy to make out the prescription but tell the patient to wait... Likely to save both time and worry.
ReplyDeleteMonica you have possibly hit the nail on the head. I assume that there was no way, just from an examination, of telling what the underlying cause of the bronchitis was: it could have been viral or bacterial. The interesting thing was that the fever broke during the night just they way it used to when I was a child. I can recall my Mother sitting up with her Mother during the 'crisis' and coming downstairs to announce that the fever had broken and she'd eventually be ok. Of course that was a much worse illness than I had and without all the modern advantages of fever-relieving drugs like paracetamol.
DeleteI have a hunch that it may be rather common that fever-breaking takes place during the night. Might be partly to do with hormones? I seem to recall that we generally have somewhat higher temperature in the daytime/evening and that it's usually at its lowest in the early morning. (If there's a doctor in the audience, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...)
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