So I've had the flu all week. Ok, I promise this isn't going to be one
of those "I had a ham sandwich for lunch" posts. It has a point. Bear
with me.

Monday I started with the aches and chills.
Tuesday I was coughing and feeling generally unwell.
By Wednesday I couldn't get out of bed, and definitely felt like it was
the flu. The two days before I wasn't sure if I was just run down, or it
was allergies to the massive amounts of dust and mold in my area at
work. I called in sick to work Wed and Thurs. All day Thursday I was
having trouble breathing and just couldn't get out of bed. I felt like
maybe my flu was turning into pneumonia, as it has in the past. I just
couldn't get a good breath in OR out.
Today, Friday, I hauled my butt out of bed and headed to work. When I
got there, I chatted with a couple of people to get project updates and
whatnot, and then my boss walked in. I said "good morning" and she
replied "how are you feeling?" I said "honestly, I'm still sick, but ten
times better than yesterday." She said "you sound terrible. Go home." I
asked if she was sure, cuz I didn't want to be out sick again, and she
basically read me the riot act about how sick I've been and for how
long, and then said "now go home."

I was feeling more than just a little bit worried about my job at that
point. I definitely thought I'd be written up on Monday for being out
too many days (cuz leads are pretty much not allowed to get sick, ever,
in my dept)

So I called my primary care doc's office from work as I shut down my
computer. I left a message and told her what was up.

An hour or so later, she called and said to come in at 3. When I went
in, she took a look at me and listened to my lungs and said "you have
asthma." I responded with something like "whaaaaat. I've never had
asthma." She said I was barely moving any air at all, and needed a
breathing treatment RIGHT NOW in the office. So she took me into another
room and put me on a nebulizer for 2 cycles, and told me that I am NEVER
allowed to wait that long again before calling her, that she'd give me
medications but that I am not to just take them if it starts acting up,
I should take them AND call her so she can monitor. Apparently my
breathing must have been really pretty bad. I had just gotten used to it
so I didn't really realize how bad off I was.

For the stuffy nose she gave me a decongestant and has me doing sinus
irrigation. Have you ever done that? Good lord I thought I was going to
suffocate or drown myself. I'm sure I'll get better at it since I'm
supposed to do it twice a day. For the asthma I have Flo-Vent for every
day and Albuterol for taking every six hours during an attack. I am to
call her when/if I have an attack like this. I didn't know that this was
what asthma felt like. How odd. I've been coughing and coughing, and
just can't breathe right, but I truly thought it was pneumonia again.
I've had it so many times, the wheezing and crackling are like old
friends. Not good friends, mind you, more like uninvited house guests
that just won't leave.

When I got back from the doctor's, I called my boss and gave her the
verdict, and thanked her for yelling at me and sending me home. I told
her that her being upset with me and my getting a note probably saved me
an emergency room visit over the weekend. Or worse. So I owe her one for
getting so upset with me. She said she was really worried about me,
because I've been coughing off and on since October, and she "Didn't
think I looked right" this morning, so that's why she was so hard on me.
Awwww. Tough love... lol.

Oddly I hadn't noticed how weird my coloring has been, but looking at my
hands now they are MUCH more pink than they've been in weeks.

So the upshot, folks, is that even if you are 35 years old and have
never had asthma or allergies in your life, you can end up in a very
serious situation pretty quickly. IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE BREATHING, SEE
YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY.