After 10 days in hospital with Pneumonia and 8 days at home I need to make a decision to go and see close family 4 hour car journeys away next Monday.
I am nearly off prednisolone so sleep is finally improving. Being able to walk small distances. Defined getting my mojo back.
On new mart regime with Inhaler being really good at taking care of any symptoms. Peak flow 400,/500. Oxygen levels normal.
Yes I been taken a back of the impact on my health has heen effective by pneumonia. I am literally sitting on myself. Lots of just sitting and keeping mind from getting bored.
Went to bed last night with use of reliever with tight chest. Worked and had to use again 2:30am. Woke up a bit stuffy but peak flow okay.
Husband of course wants the best for me and rest of my family.
I need to make a decent sooner that later for travel plans for rest of family coming to see my mum and sister.
I can do as much or as little as I want when I am away.
Want to be sensible
Written by
elanaoali
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I appreciate it’s a difficult decision but is that mainly because of the time of year! Ie it’s Christmas so you should be with family!
I have had pneumonia several times and can honestly say I would not be up to such a long journey. There is a world of difference between sitting at home a bit bored and travelling for 4hrs. There would be the real risk of you getting there and becoming seriously unwell again, which at the least you would need to be in bed for much of your stay. That in itself could put a dampener on rest of families Christmas fun! Also taking a reliever inhaler just before bed and then in the night just demonstrates you are still not well.
When I have had pneumonia it has taken several months for me to recover and that was with me sitting around a lot!
Ultimately it is your decision but I think you should think very carefully about travelling any distance and then being up to being “entertaining “ for the period you are away.
Last Christmas I had a chest infection, started around the 8th Dec, but definitely nothing as severe as pneumonia. Despite antibiotics and Prednisolone things didn't improve and as Christmas approached, my usual trip to be with family was under threat. In the end I decided to go and the day long journey was exhausting. I spent the entire visit, around a week, sitting around and couldn't do my usual stuff. But I ended up catching covid and bringing that home - I didn't know I had it till my family rang me to encourage me to test for covid as they had got it. So I was poorly throughout January. More treatment and I berated myself for not being more pragmatic over travelling when ill.
Yeh, go for it! You can always cancel at the last minute if you don't feel up to it or have the collywobbles. Only you know how you feel at any given time. If you stay home and are ill anyway you'll have missed the chance to let all those extra people care for you, maybe your hub needs a break too? Hope you're well enough when the time comes. 🤞🧑🎄
Nasty one, the obvious reaction is that the sensible decision is not to go.
However last year, my asthma hospitalised me in mid December. We were booked in a luxury hotel five hours away for five nights over New Year.
I was apprehensive, but the journey was OK, my wife drove, our car is comfortable etc, and my asthma has always liked the car. The hotel was clean and pretty dust free. It actually gave me a lovely rest and break from looking after family.
So it all worked well.
The key from my view point, is that I went for a very relaxing break, where I was totally looked after. If you are going to stay with family, can you truly relax and chill out, which is what you need to do.
My wife is often more capable than I of making these sorts of decisions for me, she after all has to sort it out when it goes wrong.
I staying on a holiday let so I can be as busy or as not as I want. I really want to get away. After 10 days in hospital and 2 weeks at home I need some fresh air!
I would wear a mask in public if near crowds and do hand sanitizing. Also shaking hands is one of the ways disease is transmitted. Think of this: a person dutifully covers their mouth when coughing/ sneezing but their infected mucus sits on their hand - ready to jump on to your hand when you shake their hand.
My husband always brought me colds from his men’s’ club. One he stopped shaking hands I stopped getting sick.
These sort of decisions are so hard as there’s so many factors, can you make it right at the last moment, although sometimes that’s worse for me as I end up stressing about the decision which makes things worse anyway 🙄.
whatever you decide take care of yourself plenty of rest and sleep to recover.
Can make the decision to the last minute. However that wouldn't be fair on rest of family. My daughter are coming home from university and need to know our plans.
Its very difficult trying to pace yourself. I am still recovering from pneumonia 7 weeks on from getting out of hospital. Its been my lack of energy that has affected me the most. I have had to pace myself and deciding what I do. You know whats best for you . 🤶🧑🎄
No- one can make that decision for you, and what I say may sound odd, but when you move out of your immediate area where you have some immunity to the various local pathogens, I think you sometimes come into contact with different mutations in that area, which may make you prone to picking something up. If you do go, I would make sure you take a good supply of masks. I haven't any scientific evidence to back up what I've said, just my observations of people I've known coming home with a cold after visiting family far afield. Of course, a cold in itself means little to most people, but hell for we asthmatics.
hope you are feeling better. I would suggest recovering before you make any plans.
My daughter had a severe attack due to pneumonia and as being young she didn’t let her body rest and it was summer holidays we ended up going to a theme park. She started feeling the symptoms again and hasn’t actually recovered since that life threatening attack.
I am not saying everyone is the same but I agree with another person who said that going to a different place always makes you bring something. I have seen this with my daughter as we live in south east and going up north always makes her worse when we visit family.
Staying put my asthma flared up last night and I have been referred to my local respiratory hot clinic. Home is good place to be and I know my sister will understand
if you were certain and confident about going, you wouldn't be asking on here? Go with your initial gut feeling and do t overthink it and don't then talk yourself into something that you know in your heart of hearts is likely to irritate your breathing. There are loads of bugs around now and people packed together in rooms with little ventilation. If you feel all will be well, go and have a ball. If you have doubts, stay home and rest and continue to recover. You can go and be with everyone once you are strong again. Best wishes to you whatever you decide my friend.
Thank you for your well thought comments. It's hard to not going to see my mum (dementia,) and my sister and carer. However NOT going is my decision now. I know this is the right decision.
Respiratory hot clinic this morning. Went through all my xrays and Cat scan of my pneumonia. The nodule on my lung. Very common thing to have rescan on my lung in 3 months time. Asthma all good but seem to have developed a breathing pattern disorder. I need to retrain my brain as its got upset by the pneumonia and I now have a disconnect between brain and body.
Glad I didn't go on my trip last week. My asthma has been grumpily since Wednesday. Drop in peak flow 350 and increased with inhaler 400. Tight chest which feels like stabbing pain and soreness. Now need to make the decision whether to visit my in-laws after Christmas.
The run up to Christmas has been so weird for me. Not been able to do the usual from remberance Sunday to not seeing my church family. I did yesterday and the week before.
Now Christmas day and things are right. Church and a walk.
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