Walking Pneumonia

It's definitely not for sissies.  I started to feel a bit off on Monday a couple of weeks back.  Tuesday I felt worse but was sure I could throw it off.  Wednesday I felt even worse and by Thursday morning I was flat on my back.  I didn't have a fever, no upset stomach, not much coughing.  All in all not much in the way of symptoms but I felt wretched.  Thursday afternoon my doctor spent quite a while listening to my lungs and decided it was walking pneumonia.  I had to look it up.

Turns out walking pneumonia, also called atypical pneumonia, is not caused by the streptococcus bacteria that most commonly causes regular pneumonia.  It is caused by one of several other bacteria or fungus, virus or protozoa which don't respond to the antibiotics usually used to treat regular pneumonia.  The symptoms are considered mild  - so mild in some cases that the person doesn't know they have the disease and doesn't need any treatment for it.  No such luck for me.  My doctor put me on one antibiotic but when I wasn't markedly better by Saturday, he added a second.

I felt ghastly over the weekend and by Monday began to see the light of day.  I didn't feel too bad but I couldn't do much of anything without being out of breath.  Three quick steps and I had to stop and breath.  It's hard to suddenly drop your basic speed to 1/3.  That morning I had to walk out to the barn to direct the guys who were here to repair the sprinklers under the trees.  Thank goodness my husband arrived with the mule and drove me back to the house.  I'm not sure I could have made it that far.  By Wednesday I felt pretty good but still couldn't do much.  Since then my breath has been getting slowly better and better.  I still can't walk quickly or jump up out of my chair.

Last night was the first time I went out to feed the animals in two weeks.  I started with an evening feeding since it's only the ponies that get fed at night.  I did it very slowly and managed to get back to the house without having to stop and breath.  This morning I fed all the animals and it was much harder than I thought it would be.  I think by next week I should be nearly back to normal.  I know there are lots of diseases that don't resolve quickly but I've never had one before.  Three weeks to be sick?  Like I said, it's not for sissies.