Yes, I was in the hospital from Tues. morning until mid-day today. I pruned a lilac bush on Sat. and right after, I started feeling poorly. I didn't feel good all day Sunday or Monday but Tuesday morning I was in pain with each breath.
So, not sure that anyone could do anything preventive, I went to Urgent Care. They saw an old guy complaining of chest pains and focused on being sure I wasn't having a heart attack. I wasn't but they wanted a night in the hospital for observational purposes. When I got to my room, the hospitalist said they wanted two nights.
They diagnosed pneumonia and a low-salt condition. But the low-salt business is not mentioned in the writings I was given when discharged. The most shocking thing I found when I got home was that I was about 10 lbs. heavier than I thought. The last time I weighed myself on a good scale, I weighed 156. At the hospital, they told me that my bed weighed me and that it said I weighed 166. I laughed and dismissed the idea as a false reading from this expensive and sensitive bed. I am not laughing now. We have since remembered things that seem related to my complaints during the week previous to working on lilacs.
I am to see my regular doctor next week to consider what to do next. I've never had pneumonia before and I am taking antibiotics to fight the condition and a pro-biotic to try to lessen gut-bug damage from the antibiotics. I am confident that I have some water retention going on but I know very little about the condition, causes or steps to try to fix it. I think that it can be serious but I have only heard much about it in relation to pregnancy. We will all be surprised if I am pregnant.
I am in the beginning of "The Information Diet" by Clay Johnson. If you are interested in American public life, the quality of American civilization, in understanding some forces operating in our country to contribute and amplify the sense of us (the good ones) against them (the bad ones), I highly recommend the book. As I have mentioned, Johnson has a weight problem but he is smart and able to learn and remember. As he explains the forces in publicly-traded companies and the way that good intentions all around can and do change the nature of what the public learns and what it doesn't. My reading in mental biases matches his analysis quite well. Johnson sees close and useful parallels between American (and world?) obesity and media approaches that constitute an unhealthy American information diet. The book was very much in my mind as I was processed and interviewed by medical and health services people.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
