I'm 66 and generally in pretty good health. I still play tennis singles and feel pretty fit.
A short while ago, I had a fever that shot up to 103 for a couple of hours. Then it was gone. A couple of days later, I did some pretty physical stuff. Like changing out 50 gal hot water heater.
The next day a couple of my ribs hurt. I cursed myself for being stupid. Also, I was not feeling energetic. I kidded with my wife that I was finally getting old. Over the weekend, the rib pain got worse. On Sunday, I realized I had pneumonia and pleurisy, which I had before, when I was 22.
Sunday night, I was in bad shape. Every breath, no matter how shallow, was a knife to my ribs. I could barely move from my recliner.
First thing Monday, I called my doctor, and asked him if he could prescribe an antibiotic. He called me crazy, and told me to come right in. LOML drove me the 30 plus miles to his office. He took blood and an xray. He came in the room and said, "Don't worry, you will survive this." I thought, "SURVIVE THIS!"
He asked if my wife could take me to the emergency room, at Cedars Sinai, where he is chief of medicine. We arrived there, they were ready. They had me on oxygen, IV's, bags of antibiotics, and PAIN meds. I was in the hospital for 5 days, on lots of antibiotics.
I had my chest drained three different times. Once while in a CAT scan. They got a total of 1500 cc of fluid from my chest. The surgeon, who does the draining at Cedars, is amazing. I truly didn't feel any more than a little pressure.
My doctor told me that I didn't have walking pneumonia, I had lay down and die pneumonia.
The hospital bill alone, not counting doctors, who bill separately, was over $54,000. Luckily, I have Medicare and Blue Cross from my wife's employment.
The doc also said I will take around 90 days to recover. And, I am still dragging.
So, call the doctor. Don't be in denial.
Steve
A short while ago, I had a fever that shot up to 103 for a couple of hours. Then it was gone. A couple of days later, I did some pretty physical stuff. Like changing out 50 gal hot water heater.
The next day a couple of my ribs hurt. I cursed myself for being stupid. Also, I was not feeling energetic. I kidded with my wife that I was finally getting old. Over the weekend, the rib pain got worse. On Sunday, I realized I had pneumonia and pleurisy, which I had before, when I was 22.
Sunday night, I was in bad shape. Every breath, no matter how shallow, was a knife to my ribs. I could barely move from my recliner.
First thing Monday, I called my doctor, and asked him if he could prescribe an antibiotic. He called me crazy, and told me to come right in. LOML drove me the 30 plus miles to his office. He took blood and an xray. He came in the room and said, "Don't worry, you will survive this." I thought, "SURVIVE THIS!"
He asked if my wife could take me to the emergency room, at Cedars Sinai, where he is chief of medicine. We arrived there, they were ready. They had me on oxygen, IV's, bags of antibiotics, and PAIN meds. I was in the hospital for 5 days, on lots of antibiotics.
I had my chest drained three different times. Once while in a CAT scan. They got a total of 1500 cc of fluid from my chest. The surgeon, who does the draining at Cedars, is amazing. I truly didn't feel any more than a little pressure.
My doctor told me that I didn't have walking pneumonia, I had lay down and die pneumonia.
The hospital bill alone, not counting doctors, who bill separately, was over $54,000. Luckily, I have Medicare and Blue Cross from my wife's employment.
The doc also said I will take around 90 days to recover. And, I am still dragging.
So, call the doctor. Don't be in denial.
Steve
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