Oooh, I was so sure that this bronchitis was much better, but it's been getting increasingly hard to breath again over the past two days. Whenever I lie down, I feel like I'm going to suffocate. Finally, my neighbours (one of whom used to have a family member on oxygen with a lung condition) persuaded me to go to the clinic last night and have it checked. Sure enough, the doctors were surprised to find my lung function seemed to be down at 30%. (That's not as bad as it sounds, as my underlying lung condition means that they function at just 54% all year round.) They put me on oxygen and on a nebuliser for a while, and did all the usual checks to make sure that the chest pain wasn't due to a heart problem. They confirmed that I should use both of the inhalers that the doctor in Scotland prescribed for me recently (so that I get enough air to breath and clear the phlegm from my lungs) but discovered that one of the inhalers had been causing a fungal infection and that's why my throat has been so incredibly sore again over the past few days. Finally they released me, sending me off to the all night pharmacy (an interesting experience, where you stand outside, putting your prescription and your money through a trap door, while a disembodied voice speaks to you from inside the pharmacy.)
All of this nighttime adventure, plus the fact that the clocks went forward this weekend, meant that I arrived home in the small hours of Easter Sunday morning. And it seems I was able to save a life on resurrection Sunday! When I arrived home from the clinic at 3 am, I found a little paralysed sparrow sitting on my upstairs terrace. Presumably it had fallen from somewhere and was paralaysed with fright. The three cats came and stood around it, staring (fascinated, but with no killer instinct) and the little bird didn't move, even when I picked it up and put it in a box. In the end, I put the box safely on my front balcony. The bird was still there when I looked out at 5 am, but was gone a couple of hours later.
My neighbour claims that sparrows can't fly in the dark, and the little creature would have stayed motionless until sunrise on Easter morning. I didn't know if that was true or not, but I rather liked the imagery of being set free to fly when Easter Sunday dawns. (The wonders of Google have confirmed that most birds can fly at night, but usually choose not to, as many breeds don't see well in the dark and might risk injury.)
Update: if you're reading this on Tuesday 29th, I can report that I saw the doctor again yesterday. My throat is beginning to improve a little, but my breathing is still slightly challenging. There's a dry hacking cough in the mornings, which sometimes improves a little throughout the day. They've given me a combination inhaler to replace the two I was using, and also a stronger antibiotic to clear my airways and sinuses. Hopefully my breathing will get back to normal fairly soon. (As this week's schedule mainly involves sitting in meetings and prayer times, I'd been expecting to be able to take part. … but it doesn't look like I'm going to make it for the start of the meetings tonight. We'll see if there's any improvement in the course of the coming days.)
Update: if you're reading this on Tuesday 29th, I can report that I saw the doctor again yesterday. My throat is beginning to improve a little, but my breathing is still slightly challenging. There's a dry hacking cough in the mornings, which sometimes improves a little throughout the day. They've given me a combination inhaler to replace the two I was using, and also a stronger antibiotic to clear my airways and sinuses. Hopefully my breathing will get back to normal fairly soon. (As this week's schedule mainly involves sitting in meetings and prayer times, I'd been expecting to be able to take part. … but it doesn't look like I'm going to make it for the start of the meetings tonight. We'll see if there's any improvement in the course of the coming days.)
