I had been fighting what I thought was the flu at my job for the last two weeks. I had actually missed 6 days in a row. Anyway, I was back at work. Had been for three days. And I was outside walking around and interacting with the children, when I started dripping sweat from all over my body. Before I realized it, I dry-heaved a large amount of mucus onto the playground.
My boss sent me home. (Actually, she almost fired me.) I have been struggling with a cough for almost 3 months now. (I got sick at church a while back. The next day was the first time I remember sweating uncontrollably. I had chalked up the sweating and the overheating to “menopause.”) … Alas ….
So, I got an appointment on the same day with urgent care because I told them I had been running a fever since the 20th of September. I ended up getting a chest X-ray.
After all was said and done, the doctor showed my chest xray on a big screen. He asked me what we saw. I had no clue because I have not seen an xray of my chest before. … He said this. This clump right here in the lungs. This spot shouldn’t be there.
I think I passed out. I am not actually sure. It freaked me out so much that the doctor was trying to shake me awake. I was freaking out. Like from 1 to 10 in under a second. All I could think of was that the doctors at UC Davis Medical found a thing in my mom’s chest, and they couldn’t figure out what it was. This lung spot eventually lead to her being diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
I was trying to talk. My husband went so pale. I finally said in a silent scream, “Is it cancer?” The doctor started laughing at me. But I was still at a 10. The doctor said no. It was signs of a bacterial infection in that lung. So every time I have exercised over the past month, I have started sweating …. because … my lungs were not getting enough oxygen. And my heart was going into double time. The doctor confirmed this with my FitBit app.
So, I got some antibiotics and a note for my work. I delivered the doctor’s note to my work. I can go back Monday. If my fever has not cleared up by then, the doctor said call urgent care and ask to give him a message. He will try another one. (As .. they were not exactly sure what that spot is … )
Once David and I were safely back in the car, I explained the spot in my mom’s chest. Bless David’s heart, the second there was a definitive answer on the spot from the radiologist, he printed it out and brought it to me. Highlighted on the paper were the words “not cancerous.” I thanked him.
Anyway, David is sick now. So we both are working through crap and crud and *&%^ in our lungs. However, I actually slept well last night. And I feel stronger today even if it is mucus running non stop.