I am consistent about sitting for flu shots every fall. RSV now, too. Plus, COVID boosters and I'm caught up on the new pneumonia vaccine. I'm simply trying to protect myself, because I have COPD from smoking for so many years. A touch of emphysema as well. And, I've suffered from chronic bronchitis since I was a kid, mainly due to my dad's smoking.
Can I breathe easy? I try. I practice yoga breathing and that helps build some strength in my chest and lungs. According to my annual chest imaging (a free local program for people who have quit smoking, but who also have smoked for 40+ years), I have some very stiff patches in my lungs that will never work again. Otherwise, nothing has changed in the ten years (this August) since I quit. That is good news.
Although I am not out in the public much, it doesn't take but a minute to catch a new strain of something-or-other. That's what happened in January. I was sicker that month than I was with my first (and only so far) bout of COVID during my birthday month in 2022. Took a bit longer to recuperate this time, too.
Once I felt better, I was able to watch my grandsons again. On Friday afternoon a week ago, my littlest one loosened the gate that separated the kitchen from the dining room. When I went to go through it, it fell and I went sliding. I went up in the air and landed with the back of my head first, then the rest of my body slammed down. That event marked my first diagnosed concussion.
My mother's brother fell and hit his head on a concrete step when he was one year younger than I am now. He didn't get checked out at the local hospital for any brain damage, and he died that night in a seizure, foaming at the mouth from a brain bleed. That image alone propelled me to the emergency unit at the local hospital, where I was examined for broken bones and scanned for brain bleed. I checked out just fine, although my muscles ached for days. When you slam your innards around like that, you're bound to feel the effects.
This morning I woke with a slight headache, and that's all. I can turn my head again fully, and I'm no longer constipated. Yeah, that's a thing with falls. I am especially proud of my bones. Good bones, despite osteoarthritis and osteopenia. Age is a wonderful thing to witness when possible.
All this to say that I haven't written much of anything over the past month. I'm catching up with my 365-poems-per-day mission for the Stafford Challege 2025, and I'm working feverishly to add blogs entries to my infant sites. I've also applied for writing jobs, as my life is more expensive than I initially pictured with all the medical bills. I'm not complaining, though. I feel very fortunate.
Spring in 25 days, ya'll. Spring!
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