Saturday, May 15, 2010

Bronchitis Round 4

Wordle: Bronchial Asthma
Good Morning Fellow Bloggers,
I went to our new after hours clinic yesterday after work as I was having yet another asthma attack and had been coughing and wheezing for 4 days. I couldn't get in to see my regular doctor so his office suggested I go there or back to the E.R. My E..R. co-pay is $100.00 and usually a very long wait. I was pleased with the Alpha Care Center. As soon as the nurse walked past and seen me trying to speak to the receptionist she said "Having trouble breathing?". I shook my head yes and and suddenly she was standing next to me and took my arm and said come with me. Without even being checked in she checked my oxygen saturation (low) and my pulse (high). That little thingy they put on your finger to check these stats is pretty neat. I was able to get the coughing under control enough to let her know I have Asthma and had been seen this would be the fourth month in a row. She came back with a cute little nebulizer machine and hooked me up with a breathing treatment. She told me I'd spend the next 10 minutes just relaxing and breathing and then we'd see to the paperwork. I gave her my I.D. and Insurance card and she was pleased that she could give that to the receptionist. I actually heard the nurse apologize to her for snatching me away. 10 minutes later she checked in with me and it wasn't empty yet. It took almost 15 minutes for me to suck down the medication. It did help some but not as much as usual. It helped me to speak easier and I was able to go over meds with her that had been given to treat me the last times and of course weight/height etc. for the doctor. They let me stay in that little room and brought me a clip board to fill out all of the forms. That took about 20 minutes as I was shaking and I had to call my husband because I could not find my complete med list in my purse. Of course I remembered where it was later. Shortly after that the Doctor came in and checked me over. She may have hit on a good factor. I used to be on Advair and when my insurance stopped covering it I quit using it. My doctor knows this of course and why. This doctor said she felt I was a definite candidate to be on it especially in the spring. I was hurting so bad I told her I did not care what it cost, we'd manage it. I ended up leaving the clinic with 5 prescriptions. They will be sending a report to my regular doctor which is good as I will be seeing him on the 27th for something else and he'll be able to check my lungs then to see how I am doing. I am on prednisone again so needless to say I did not get much sleep last night. It wires me out. The stuff works for me though. It's just that the bronchitis keeps coming back. This doctor thinks the Advair will prevent that. Let's all pray it does as this is getting expensive and can't be good for my lungs.
I had two nice surprises though. The clinic fee was the same co-pay as a doctors visit which for me is $25.00 and last month my E.R. visit was a $100.00 co-pay . Now that I know about the clinic and where it is I will definitely use it for after hour not wuit emergency but just can't wait visits. Oh, and the Advair was covered so it only cost me $30.00 compared to $98.00 the last time I got it when they said the insurance denied it. So two nice surprises!
I made a wordle about my bronchial asthma attack. Click the small picture above to be taken to a larger view of this wordle. Wordle is fun to play with when you can't sleep at night. I found out about it from Anne Gaal of Gaal Creative. It's great for inspiration too when you want to figure out a desgn element/placement for a piece of art or a card.
It's raining here so I think I'll go start a crockpot stew. Sounds good to me...
Be Happy, Be HEALTHY, Be You,

Tess

7 comments:

Tristan Robin said...

I haven't been around for awhile...so sorry to hear about your wicked asthma/bronchitis attacks.

I hope your new medications make life easier for you!

I am so fortunate to have good insurance ... thankfully, provided by employer. Without it, I don't know how I'd pay for my ELEVEN prescriptions every month!

Best wishes for a healthy week!

Anne Gaal said...

Hi, Tess! So sorry to hear that your asthma is being kicked up into high gear with bronchitis! It is so not fun!

I was just diagnosed by my doctor as having bronchitis with just a touch of asthma. I've never been diagnosed with asthma before now. But she gave me an Advair inhaler thingy. So I know just what you are talking about.

Cute Wordle! Love them! And it is nice that you are able to keep a positive attitude, even when dealing with illness and setbacks.

I hope you feel much better soon and can breathe better soon, too. Thinking of you! :-)

Jackie said...

you poor thing! I can totally relate though - I've had years before where I would end up in the ER/urgent for 3 or 4 months straight w/ asthma attacks and bronchitis or pnemonia. Definitely not fun!!! I hope you feel better soon :)

Kim Mailhot said...

Take good care of yourself Tess. I am glad to hear about the good treatment that you received.Definitely silver linings in your tough time.
Rest well.

Kristin said...

Hi Tess!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment about Kendra's artwork / collage. You know, my husband drilled holes into that canvas panel (as I had a lot of layers that made it necessary), but I usually just use my hole punch / setter (I have that big pink one - what's it called?) and it goes through fine. I love canvas panels as they are hard and so easy to work with (and cheap!) but I think that they do need a little something extra to make more of a statement when hung.
I hope you FEEL BETTER soon, Kristin xo

Lynn Stevens said...

I do hope your feeling better! and that the meds are helping.
My DH has a rare lung disease and on oxygen 24-7,lots of meds so I can relate to what your going through, Hes lost 70 % of his lungs now and it tears me up when he can't breath! Take care of yourself!

turquoise cro said...

Not being able to breathe is very scary and I HOPE and PRAY YOU are feeling better soon dear girly!!!My mom is on oxygen at night and I was having anxiety attacks at night last year and some the first part of the year! A lot of it stemmed from seeing my poor mother-in-law die gasping for breath last January. Phew! What we have to go through. KEEP THE FAITH!!! darling Tess! Thank YOU for all the kind and sweet comments!