I’ve been feeling fair to middling tired lately and couldn’t really account for it. If the doctor’s right, it turns out I have probably had bronchitis and possibly a sinus infection the last few weeks from my brush with the flu or a cold passed on by one of the grandkids three weeks ago. Of course, if I’d gone to the doctor a long time ago like Leslie urged, I probably would have been over this by now.
But, no, I decided to wait until yesterday when I almost didn’t make it back from my walk. After walking out about a mile and half I was so exhausted that I had to drop to my knees for several minutes before I could gain enough breath to make it home. The thought crossed my mind that I might actually not be able to make it home. Well, I doubt life would be worth living without my walks. That’s all the motivation I needed to start making calls to physicians friends have recommended.
I was surprised that the first three doctors I called weren’t taking new patients. Has that become common in the last few years? I’ve had one doctor for the last twenty years, so maybe it’s not a new phenomena. Whether it is or not, though it seems like a worrisome sign to me. Does that mean that there are so few physicians practicing that only the new ones are taking new patients?
While at the doctor’s office I was given both a flu shot and a pneumonia shot. I was somewhat hesitant to take the flu shot because I consider myself relatively healthy, though this is the first time I can ever remember getting bronchitis from a cold or the flu. Still, my throat cancer surgery has made me particularly prone to pneumonia and lung problems, and I started getting a flu shot right after I had the surgery. However, I still felt guilty about taking the shot. I would hate to think that I might be responsible for an infant dying from the flu because I had gotten one instead of them. It’s certainly not a comfortable position to be put into. Nor one that we should have to be put into.
I’ve been thinking about the flu vaccine and medicines in general for quite awhile now and hope to post an article tomorrow morning on the subject if the new medication kicks in. Needless to say, it’s the answer I had hoped that Kerry would have made when asked that question in the debate tonight rather than the one he did make.