My Storm is passing

Dear Family and Friends,
Please keep a safe distance between you and the computer tonight.  I don't want you to catch anything, its not fun so be cautious.

Last night was better in that Dolly had given me to go ahead to use the Thermophore on my head, until I was told it was OK I wasn't goint to take the chance.  So last night after napping by the fire I finally went to bed.  And as I did so I pulled out the Thermophore and turned it on, in a few minutes the pad turned hot and moist heat bathed my sinus area.  The pad has a cycle with at first three green lights, then two and finally one, after that it cools down.  Once the cycle was over I was able to breath and quickly put on the CPAP machine.  I made it until about 3 am when no air would flow through my system and I was choking, I had enough sense to stumble out of bed, grab the heating pad and start it again.  After a few minutes I was able to breath and that time I made it the rest of the way through the night.  I woke feeling really rough, the fever had broken during the night and that was good.  I waked through the floor covered by used tissue and into the shower.  And then it started.

A constant dripping out of my nose, no matter how many times I blew my nose the dripping was there.  It continued for most of the day and in fact has only lessened over the last couple hours.

I had an inspection for a friend to do locally so at 10 this morning I measured a house and dripped and blew my way through the inspection.  I had him stand back a long ways.  Once that was completed I headed to Safeway for Dolly had sold me something else that jarred my memory to when I was a child.  Back then we always used the heating pad, sometimes with a wet cloth between the pad and the patient.  But we also used Vicks and I was sure I had some in the house.  I found three jars of Vaseoline but no Vicks.  So while at Safeway attempting not to sneeze on other customers I finally found it hiding between more important items.  So the cycle of life continues.  I remember now that my mom used Vicks for lots of things, to help clear lungs and sinus passages.  So tonight I'll use the Vicks on the top of my nose and on my forehead as instructed by my personal nurse Dolly.

I do feel better tonight but only in relationship to how I felt last night.  I have worked a full day and thanks to the help of Jessie who has worked on some of the reports I've actually send several out to lenders in spite of going through a whole box of kleenex as I worked.  Late this afternoon I received a nice email from a long time friend, someone I've known since high school and someone who just happens to be a real friend for the long haul.  Her email arrived at just a moment when I was feeling pretty alone.  When you are this sick you tend to be alone as no one really wants to get it in spite of being your friend.  However both Ray and Lois have checked in on me and they lifted my spirits in the process.

The weather was nice outside and I felt like I should work outside in the sun and fresh air but of course there is that pesky matter of getting work done so can continue to live like I like to and prefer.  It takes a fairly decent amount of money to keep everyone happy, banks, insurance, supplies, heat, garbage, Direct TV, internet.

I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll feel even better, certainly it would be nice since I'm set to see 4 properties starting in Brentwood, then Blackhawk, then Livermore and finally home.

I was very bummed by the outcome of the super bowl, sometimes I wonder if the refs are on the take, seems like today every time they could have cut a break to the 49ers it didn't happen.  I get so worked up when watching important games that I purposely do not watch until the last 5 minutes and I do it with something else.  Tonight it was with my bowl of green beans, brown rice and pinto beans.

So I'm signing off now, thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts.

Love

tim