malady - noun - disease or ailment
A few months before I picked up the malady pneumonia via the HVAC system sixty-five days into a world cruise, I was told I should get vaccinated for pneumococcal pneumonia. Of course, I agreed because I mean, who wants to get sick while on vacation? What I didn't bother to do was read the fine print, meaning educate myself as to the vaccine's promises and accomplishments. Like what all should do before voting for a political candidate. After all, ignorance (not even the blissful variety) has never been proven to be worthwhile. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the "vaccination reduces the incidence of severe invasive pneumonia." Ah, huh. "Reduces" is a key word here. "Refuses" does not mean that it prevents the incidence of the disease, just that it minimizes the chances that 1. you will die or 2. you will wind up in a hospital for a week or more. 3. you will get double pneumonia, a death sentence. Admittedly, if I had read the fine print, I still would've been pricked. But I also might have been more vigilant and thought twice about engaging in risky behaviors, such as diving into an ice-cold pool while in Melbourne, Australia. (My spirit is way younger than my body.)
In case you have been lucky enough to steer clear of pneumonia, I will say that it isn't pretty. Although I have been fortunate enough not to have contracted COVID, according to my friends who have had it, in most cases, it isn't as bad as pneumonia. When I was 36, I wound up with walking pneumonia and pleurisy, a difficult combination as the latter is extremely painful. Back in 1995, when you came down with the duo, you went to a doctor who prescribed antibiotics and codeine, a narcotic opioid that was once used to reduce pain and coughing. It worked like a charm. Unfortunately, due to the addictive nature of it, it is no longer widely prescribed albeit I was able to procure a generic version of Tylenol with codeine on the ship, which really helped me, especially to sleep. (And no, I did not become addicted to it.) Naturally because I was young and resilient the first time I had the malady, I was up and out of bed within days. I even mustered the strength and courage to leave my narcissistic husband who, during my illness, had refused to get up off the couch to help me care for our daughter who was four at the time. (There is always a silver lining in the cloud.)
This time around, my body is just too mature to be able to shake off the malady easily. After over a month since the initial symptom of major congestion arose, I am not coughing as much, the mucus is not as bad, the pain in my ribcage from violent bouts of uncontrollable coughing is not as severe, and I breathe a bit easier now that my lung is pretty much clear. Yet the fatigue is still present. I have felt terrible for so long, I am not even certain as to what feeling good looks like. And I am afraid to leave my apartment as my immune system has been compromised. I will just have to see what the doctor says tomorrow and then will have to jump back into risk taking mode, something I've grown to be good at yet not entirely successful at.
What can I say? It sucks to be this sick, and my heart bleeds for people who are in much worse shape than I am because over time (six months?), I know I will be fine. But others may not. I'm not complaining. I am still kicking, albeit maybe not as high as I used to because I find myself out of breath after doing it.
Actually, on the flip side, I am thankful. If I had never gotten the vaccine, chances are I might not have survived, or I might have wound up all alone in a malaria-infested hospital in Bangkok. So there is definitely something to be said for getting vaccinated. (So there, Mr. Kennedy.)
#pneumonia, #diseases, #vaccines, #health, #blog, #blogger
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