Where I’ve Been

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Surprise dear followers.  Greeting friends and readers.  It’s been awhile.  I’m not the first blogger to burnout and disappear.  My burnout occurred shortly after Hubby’s health issues came to light.  

I’ve received some unexpected encouragement to write from a new friend who read my blog, so let us see if I can still remember how to do this.  

Hubby’s health problems have been a series of ups and downs.  A case of pneumonia was really scary.  When we left for urgent care Hubby felt bad.  We were sent on to the hospital, and by the time we got there, Hubby couldn’t give his name.

Doctors played ping pong with him, pointing to each other to give us answers.  Finally we changed pulmonologists.  A year after the pneumonia, Hubby was healthy enough for a lung biopsy.  The result, Hubby does have Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.  Plus, he still has COPD, specifically Emphysema.  He is now on one of the two very expensive medicines to treat IPF, nintedanib (OFEV).  This is not a cure.

Fortunately for us, our copay for OFEV is covered by a foundation.  Meaning, no co-pay charge for us.  Thank you to all of you who have ever donated to the Lung Association.  There are a number of side effects, but Hubby is tolerating it well so far.  Life has settled into a manageable routine.

It has been a time of coming to term with our new reality, somber conversations, and  putting things in order.  There has been a lot of stress and anxiety.  I didn’t want my blog to be just an IPF blog, (not the worst thing, but a different audience).  Nor a series of rants of all the other things in life that have added to stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety are major health issue by themselves.  My immune system has taken a hit.  Suddenly I am dealing with canker sores, colds, rashes, and broken/peeling nails.  Also, I am eating a ton, with the predictable results (I wonder if I can find some of those clothes I donated a year or so ago to Goodwill).  These are small problems in life.

The future isn’t clear, but in the present we are living with these challenges.  Our emphasis is on our life, not the inevitable end that all of us eventually face.  That end will come to us all, but until then, why borrow trouble.