Pneumonia links and Vet visit

Hardly any coughing today, but the tiredness just won't let up. I did a little research today on the symptoms of pneumonia, and how treatment at home looks. I've done everything my doctor has asked me to do, and I noticed an improvement in my breathing rate.

I only get short of breath if I do several tasks one after the other without taking a break.

According to what I read, I have what is called community based pneumonia, meaning I caught it from within my work place. My case is mild, so it is referred to as walking pneumonia. Since I am otherwise healthy (no asthma, no flu, I don't smoke, I'm not diabetic, and no other conditions or illnesses), I'm going to recover within two weeks, although the tiredness could last up to a month for some people. I hope my otherwise healthy status will shorten the duration!

I feel better just knowing that the tiredness is associated with the illness. I was beginning to think that all this inactivity had made me feel lazy. What with all I have to do... or would like to do... this is not a pleasant place to be.

Today I took down the tree, and it's laying in all its pieces on the floor. Steve brought the box down from the attic this evening. Tomorrow, I'll load the tree parts into the box, and he'll carry it upstairs.

I did manage to put a few things away into storage containers... too big and heavy for me to carry upstairs. Steve will take care of that for me too. When he has off.

I prepared the bedroom for my sister and her husband who will be visiting from out of town this weekend. Their children are grown, and have children of their own. Now it's time for she and I to get in some quality sister time, to get to know each other all over again, something we've been unable to do for the past 20-30 years due to long distances and raising kids. She used to live in California, then in Connecticut, but now lives much closer, in Georgia.

They may be here either Saturday or Sunday. Just in time for a New Year's celebration around my neighbor's bonfire. The weather looks promising for that evening.

Both dogs had an appointment with the vet today to check out suspicious lumps. I'm not talking about Schnauzer bumps... my dogs haven't had any of those yet. The vet says I've been lucky not to have seen any of these annoying bumps on my dogs. She said it's unusual when a schnauzer owner doesn't come across one or more of these down their dogs' backs.

Misty had a suspicious lump removed last summer.... it was melanoma, and they got it all. She also had a hemangioma removed... it was filled with blood, and was benign, but a nuisance just the same. The lump I had checked out today started growing on top of her head just after the last lump was removed. The good news is that it was only a cyst, and the doctor drained it right there in the office. Gone, just like that!

Max had a lump on his rear right leg, sort of in the area I'd call the ankle of my own leg. The good doctor attempted to aspirate it, but nothing would come out of it. It wasn't a cyst. So she tried to draw out some blood cells to see if anything abnormal was in it, but got so very little, it was hard to say. She said that I should watch it and if it grows any bigger, bring him in and get it removed. The problem is in watching it... it's in a place covered by hair, and would be easy to not notice anything about it at all.

What I do know is that it has been growing steadily for the past year. She said if it got too big, there would be very little room to cut out enough margin around it to make sure they get it all. We decided to go ahead and have it removed asap while it is still small enough to get it all with room left to close it properly. It's just less than a 1/4" in diameter. I set up an appointment for January 9th to have it removed.

I know it sounds like I've been doing a lot, but I haven't done much. I've paced all these things throughout the day. The vet visit took over two hours due to some pet emergency that backed them up. So, there was a lot of sitting around waiting there. Nearly fell asleep. Poor dogs!

Tomorrow I'll try to get in some lesson plans while I'm waiting for my sister.

Now I shall go to bed. Goodnight J-land! Thank you for being so kind during these past few days of my complaining. You are too good to me!

                                                        

 

 

 

Tags: Pneumonia

Rant of a sick teacher

Thank you for all your well wishes... I am feeling better. The coughing has subsided very much. I feel tired more than anything. I am grateful for not having a headache. I have been resting, either in bed, or in the recliner.

Thank goodness for Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. I've been watching his show each night this week, and have learned a lot about being the pack leader. As he trains people to lead their dogs properly, I've been thinking about my own little "pack," Max and Misty. They pretty much do what I tell them to do, with only a couple of exceptions. Misty doesn't always come home when we call to her, Max doesn't like to be groomed, and both of them jump on people to greet them.

Apparently, I'm responsible for all of these behaviors... as I can change them if I knew how. I think I picked up enough of Cesar's dog wisdom to know what I need to do to establish my leadership and change their behaviors.

I did drive to school to pick up materials and books, then came home. I repeat, I did not stay at school despite the fact that I saw four other teacher cars parked in the parking lot with the same idea I had.

(Now you may discontinue reading ... the rest is a rant, and I'll probably regret writing it by tomorrow. So please stop if you don't have the stomach for rants. I don't usually do this in my journal. But alas, I am tired.)

Yes, I need to rest, and I am resting, but I also need to be ready for school to start on Tuesday. And even if I'm not able to go to school on Tuesday, I need to plan for the substitute who would take my place. Either way, whether I'm sick or not, I have to plan for next week.

And who has to think and write the plans, and put together the necessary materials for four different grade levels? Yes, me.

And when will I get the chance to write them up? When I am well? LOL!!! No, silly, ... now! while I am still sick.

Yes, that is the dilemma teachers have to face when they get sick. Which is why we try not to get sick. That is one four letter word we are afraid of.

Whether I am sick or not, my plans have to be written up with enough detail that a stranger (the sub) could walk in and teach my lessons.

I'm curious how other teachers handle it, then. One thing we can't ever do is "call in sick." No, first we have to find a sub, then we have to make sure everything is planned and taken care of so that the sub will know what to do. Subs are not babysitters... we do not give kids worksheets to keep them busy all day... that's an old myth created by people who have never taught in the classroom.

I feel resentful about that, I do. I once had a job working as a printer. If I got sick, my goodness, I could wake up groggy and call my boss and say, "I'm not coming in today. I'm sick." And he'd say don't worry, and I didn't. And I could miss two or three days, and my job would still be there, things would have piled up while I was gone, but nothing anyone couldn't deal with. I'd get caught up when I returned, well and rested once more.

Never again.

If I called in sick, my principal would say, "Have you got a sub? Are your plans on your desk? Good, then don't worry. Get some rest and come back when you are well."

I don't have a sub (yet), and my plans have not been written because .... because I'm sick and tired?

What do other EC teachers do when they get sick? I have an assistant for one hour a day, so it's not like I can leave her with my classes all day long.

I'm just curious.

 

 

Pacing myself

I woke up feeling pretty decent compared to the way I've felt for the previous six days. I thought as I got out of bed that I should put away all that Christmas stuff... you know, the wrapping paper, boxes, bags, and all those decorations that never made it on the tree this year ... the things I could use next year.

But before I put them away, I should go to town to get the after-Christmas sales on bags and boxes, etc so I won't have to pay premium price for them next year. All the gifts I gave away this year were packed in beautiful bags and boxes that I had bought after Christmas last year. I like planning ahead like that, and I do have storage space in the attic.

Yes, that is what I'll do, I thought this morning as I got dressed, feeling much better today than I had felt even yesterday.

I hit only two stores, Wal-Mart and Target. Found some wonderful gift boxes and bags for next year. Found a few other gift ideas for students and teachers... and did lots of walking around.

Suddenly, nausea waved over me and I asked for a plastic bag to carry with me as I browsed, just in case. I was too far from home to just go home, and I knew if I could get everything done in hour, I'd go straight home after that.

I did, but was wiped out by the time I got home and unloaded the trunk. I was only gone for a couple of hours, and I felt like I had been gone all day.

There was a message on the phone from my doctor to call her. I did. The chest x-rays had shown a patch area of density in one lobe, and I have possible pneumonia, confirming what she had diagnosed initially. Possible. I'm supposed to go back in 3 weeks and get another x-ray.

Well, possibly, then, I should stay home and not over-do it again like I almost did today.

I haven't cooked dinner in a week. I've neglected everything and everyone close to me.

I'll go take a nap, then tackle the stuff that needs putting away. I'll pace myself. Also, I need to set aside one day to plan for school starting back up, and a couple of days for my sister's visit.

                                                                     

                                                                    Yes, pace myself.

Thank you for your comments and well wishes... I do feel like I'm getting better, a little bit each day.

Note: Mickey is here because my sister and her husband are big Disney fans, and both will be here in a few days, visiting from Georgia.

 

Mickey by Donna

Christmas card tree

                                                          

I did decorate the tree. It seemed to take care of another problem I'd had: where to display the Christmas cards this year. The idea came to me about 4:00 a.m. Sunday when I woke up unexpectedly, coughing and thirsty. So I put the cards on the tree. All but two of them were cards I received this year.

The two, however, are very special cards that I keep on display all year long since I discovered them a few years ago.

 These two cards. The one on the top right is from my Memere Deslauriers, my mother's mother. The one on the bottom left is from my mother, possibly dated 1985. What I treasure most about these cards are the handwritten messages each one carries from the past.

                           

Mom is alive and well enough these days. She doesn't send letters and cards like she did back then. I learned to write letters from her, from watching her write letters to her sister and mother, and even to my dad when he was away on TDY throughout his Air Force career.

This particular card shown here mentions the news about my youngest sister Vicki, her husband Michael, and their baby Candance. That's how I know what year the card was written. In fact, she mentions my brother Joey, and my sister Joy, and my dad. They were all living in California at the time.

Vicki and Candance were killed and my parentswere seriously injured in a car accident in 1997. Dad died in 2002 from atherosclerosis. That's what the death certificate said, but I know he really died of a broken heart, which never healed after his daughter and grand-daughter were killed in that car accident.

I found the cards a few years ago amongst a boxful of Christmas cards I had been saving apparently since 1975, the year we got married.

When I read the card from  my memere, I laugh every time because of the way she spells "youse"... that is so like her. I can hear her voice saying it... she used the term like a yankee, which she was... which I was, until I married my North Carolina man and began saying "ya'll" instead.

                           

I love how she refers to my husband and son as Big Steve and small steve. A lot of love came with that card. My memere didn't send many cards off at Christmas. I think it's the only card I ever got, or that I remember getting from her.

Both these cards will be passed down to my son as family keepsakes.

Thank you, Alyson, for reminding me to post an entry. I did decorate the tree. It didn't glitter and sparkle this year, but I know, like we always say, Christmas isn't about the presents.

And that turkey soup with lemon juice really helped a lot. If you had only told me about it, I wouldn't have believed it, but you brought that bowl of hot soup over and it tasted pretty good to this sick lady.

It was the lemon juice that really caused me to hesitate. "Add lemon juice" you said.

Lemon juice? You told me a story of how you came to hear about this cold remedy, and I'm afraid I've forgotten the important details. Alyson, if you'll leave a comment here to share with the readers, I'm sure they would love to hear it too.

Itmust be the lemon. And the garlic. I just had never thought to put lemon in my chicken or turkey soup before. I do feel less congested right now.

Steven and Steve are home. There's lots more to write about, but now my hours are mixed up. I slept too much today, I suppose. The meds are kicking in now, so I'm going to bed.

Thank you for your well wishes. I've been reading journals mostly, but not leaving many comments. I'll be back on track soon.

Tree update

If you didn't read the previous entry, you might want to do that before you read this one. It would make more sense if you did.

The Me who wants the tree decorated and the Me who would rather not deal with it had another brief discussion this morning.

It was about the tree, and decorating it. It seems that the conclusion drawn yesterday morning was a bit premature.

I mentioned I had picked up a bug earlier this week? Well, I didn't think I was getting better over time, and my intuition led me to call and make a doctor's appointment. She suspected viral pneumonia, sent me for chest x-rays, then prescribed something to help make the coughing more productive.

I was feeling very tired by the time I got to the doctor's office, and fell into bed when I reached home again.

Mwwrndwi: There, are you satisfied? Now you don't even feel like putting up the tree because you are sick.

Mwwttd: Yeah, but Steven is coming for dinner...

Mwwrndwi: And do you think he should come when you are sick? You want him to get sick too? You better call him and cancel for tonight. You know it's the thing to do.

Mwwttd: .... yeah...(cough! cough!) I guess you're right. It wouldn't be fair to ask him to come over and risk getting sick too.

Mwwrndwi: (with mock sympathy) Hey, look at the bright side... you won't have as much work to do after Christmas. You might even start a new tradition, no tree for Christmas. Hey! What a great idea...

Mwwttd:... (cough/wheeze) don't push your luck, Mwwrndwi. I'm not thrilled about the idea of not decorating the tree. I'm only agreeing because it's so late already. Besides, it's not like you won this argument... it's more like I got sick.

Mwwrndwi: (with sincerity) I know, Mwwttd, I know... so sorry. I know how much you enjoy the Christmas preparations and all. Look, it's okay... in a few days it will be past, and you will have an entire week to relax. (eyes brighten) Oh, yeah, don't forget, you want to drive to Chapel Hill to meet Sheria, don't you?

Mwwttd: Oh yeah, that's right! I'm looking forward to that. Okay, I'm sick now (cough!), but I have medications to take, and fluids to drink, and rest to get. Doctor's orders. Maybe that's the only way I'll take it easy. Looks like we both get what we want this time, Mwwrndwi.

The two selves link arms and meld into one divinely whole being who is coughing, but glad to be able to rest at home without worrying about writing lesson plans for a substitute teacher.

It's a good thing I hadn't planned on doing anything else over the holidays.

 

                                               

 

                                                     graphic by xxroxymamaxx

 

Today is the day! ... I think.

                                                     

I think today will be the day the decorations go up!

Yes, today I will get my tree decorated! I am so thrilled... there for awhile I even entertained the thought of not decorating the bare 7 foot artificial tree standing in front of our living room window these past seven days... it seemed even a practical thought as I rationalized between the me who wants the tree decorated and the me who would rather not deal with it.

Yesterday, the conversation went something like this:

Me who would rather not deal with it (Mwwrndwi): You know, Bea, it's only four days til Christmas. Why bother with the tree? You will take it down the day after Christmas... hardly enough time to make it worth your while.

Me who wants the tree decorated (Mwwttd): True, only four days, but Steven will be coming home for Christmas. He loves having the tree up. And where would we put our Christmas gifts? On the floor? On the hearth of the fireplace?

Mwwrndwi: Yes, Steven does like the tree, but he will understand. Especially now that you are sick with some kind of bug that you picked up just a few days ago ... yeah, bad timing, I know, but what's more important now? Getting rest and putting stressful trivial matters to the side, or wearing yourself out once more during your days off this winter break? Need I remind you that you do not get two weeks off this year?... the winter break lasts only 11 days.

Mwwttd: Please don't spoil it all by reminding me about time. I can rest during the week after Christmas. It takes only a couple of hours at the most to put away all of our decorations. And Steve will gladly help with that chore.

Mwwrndwi: Okay, time off aside, let's be practical, then. It would have made more sense to put the tree up last weekend...

Mwwttd: (interrupting, and annoyed): And you know very well last weekend was filled with getting my shopping done, church activities, and preparing school lessons for the upcoming week. Don't even go there.

Mwwrndwi: Okay, okay! I'm just saying that since you didn't have time last weekend, and since you and Steve were really too tired all week after work to bother with it, why even give it a bother now? Only four days til Christmas. You don't have any small children coming over. At least that would be a good reason to put it up. You didn't put up a tree until after your son was born... don't you remember those first three years you had Christmas without a tree?

Mwwttd: I do, and I'm telling you that was one tradition I can remember doing with my family when I was a kid. My parents (and probably my mom) always put the tree up for us kids. And in memory of all those Christmases, and of all those we've shared with our son for the past 27 years, why would I want to stop the tradition now?

Mwwrndwi: You wouldn't exactly be stopping the tradition. You have a small tree you could put up instead... sure, it wouldn't look the same, but it's the thought that counts. All the important Christian symbols you like to hang on the tree could hang on a smaller version. You know you've been considering not putting up a tree before. Admit it. It's a lot of work. And then you got to take it all down.

Mwwttd (softly sighing): Yes, it's true, I have thought about not putting up a tree. Would be nice not to have to worry about getting all those decorations out of the attic, and then putting everything on the tree, then taking them all down and packing it all up within a 2-3 week span. It isn't a practical thing at all when one's time is already given over to so many other important ventures like making or shopping for gifts, writing and sending cards, and cooking and baking for friends and family visits. I love doing all of those things. But setting up and decorating the tree has fallen to the bottom of the list of what's important.

Mwwrndwi: Yeah, I've noticed that. Have you considered one of those prelighted trees? They look nice.

Mwwttd: I have, but I haven't seen one with all the lights I'd like to see on one. They seem to skimp on the lights. If I do see one, though, I will surely consider buying one of those. But only if they can be dismantled because I have no place to keep a tree that has to remain standing whole all year long.

Mwwrndwi: So what are you going to do? I don't want to decorate the tree. It will take only 30 minutes to dismantle the tree and put it away in the attic. You could do that today.

Mwwttd: (eyes light up) Steven is coming over tonight for dinner. I will cook a special family dinner, and he will help me decorate the tree... most importantly, he will help me put the lights on... even better, Steven and Steve could put the lights on.

(with resolve) I am going to put the tree up this year, and we can talk about how we feel about not having a tree up next year over dinner, and the possibility of buying a tree already lit. I'll find out how Steven feels about coming home to a treeless Christmas Eve and morning.

Mwwrndwi: So, yet again you are going to do something to please someone else. Sometimes you are such a wimp.

Mwwttd: No need to start the name calling, Mwwrndwi. It's about family tradition. Some traditions will eventually be passed down to my son... and when he starts putting up a tree in his home, and if there are no grandchildren, then I might think, no tree needed here. But if there are grandchildren you can best believe that this grandma will joyfully put that tree up until her legs won't support her and her arms won't reach.

This discussion is over, Mwwrndwi. The tree is going up because it is our family tradition!

(Mwwttd turns and walks away singing "O Come Let Us Adore Him", and Mwwrndwi nods her head as she watches Mwwttd walk away. She smiles curiously, then shrugs her shoulders, and disappears.)

What teachers work for

He struggled for weeks just trying to associate the sounds with the letters. He couldn't understand why he was so good at math but when it came to reading, no one stumbled on the simplest of words like he did. He felt stupid every time he missed a sound. But he wouldn't give up, no he wouldn't give up.

His teacher wouldn't give up on him either, and for that he was grateful. He didn't know how to tell her how much he appreciated her doggedness and determination to help him read. She told him he was smart, and he wanted to believe her, but there again were those words... and he knew f-a-t read fat, and he knew s-a-t read sat, and m-a-t read mat, but when she showed him m-a-d, he wanted to say mat, but he knew it wasn't mat, and it wasn't sat.

It was so frustrating. Day after day, while the other kids read four and five letter words, and read long sentences, and even entire pages in books, he still could not distinguish h-i-t from h-a-t. But he tried, and he tried, and each day, another letter/sound became etched on his brain, and he was able to identify the starting letters/sounds of words.

He gained confidence in his copying skills... man, could he copy a sentence accurately, and beautifully. His handwriting was better than any of the others in the class... and he knew it. It made him feel better to know that his printing was so perfect, and the letters and words spaced just so. The teacher often looked in awe at his handwriting. If only he could read what he was writing. Sometimes he'd memorize his sentences so he could act like he was reading them, but he knew. He knew he couldn't read them.

More than three months passed before the light flickered on in his mind. Three months of daily reading words with three sounds, fourteen weeks of trying to recognize the first sounds of words and not mix them up with the last sounds of words. Nearly a hundred days of forming words with short vowels, and he found he was getting stronger somehow. It started making sense to him.

And one day, one day this week in fact, this first grader read a page of words... words with three sounds, and he put the sounds together with a little effort, notthe struggling kind of effort he started out with in September, but the easy hesitation that comes with some familiarity and a little uncertainty ... he read fifteen words with the short vowel a, and didn't miss a one.

He was so excited (as was his teacher, you can imagine) that he asked to read another page of words, with the short vowel i, and though she generally did not word chart more than one page in one day, she made an allowance for him. He read them all without missing a one. Still filled with exuberance, he asked to read another page of fifteen words, and he did so, making only one error.

There was a feeling of celebration this morning when this happened in my classroom. I could only reach across his desk and kiss the top of his little boy head I was that happy. His grin was wider than the span of his arms, let me tell you. Three other students in the classroom, who have been watching his efforts to read while they've been working on improving their own deficits in math and reading, were happy with him, and gave him high fives. Nothing could have been a sweeter or a more satisfying response than what I witnessed this morning.

I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit like Miss Annie when Helen Keller finally understood the signs Annie had been drawing in her hands.

Moments like these are what teachers work for.  Perhaps even live for.

Amen and amen.

                                                                                    

 

                                                                              Dancing Panda by Shelly