Sick.

I still haven't gone to work this week. J is still sick, and tonight we will probably stay home to continue in the quest to readjust our schedules to coincide with normal people.

J has been sick for the past, oh, I don't know, three or four weeks-ish. First it was basic cold stuff. We all had it. Mine was mostly sinuses. Then it cleared up for me and the brother-in-law, but J just kept on sniffling. Then last Monday, he said it felt like it just settled in his chest. Then the hacking began. It sounded awful. Even as a nurse, with all the gross things I deal with, I hate the sound of coughing, especially when it is productive. This was bad. But I love him, so I lived with it.

Then that Wednesday night his sats were down. The respiratory therapists heard him coughing and went to find the source. They checked him out and even gave him an updraft, which made him feel even worse. So Thursday we trekked into the doctor's office to get him checked out. He was seen as a walk-in, thankfully, because otherwise I was taking him to the ER. They did a chest X-ray, which showed a little bit of bronchitis. It also showed an enlarged heart. That is troubling, although not entirely unexpected. He has high blood pressure, which is now well controlled. But we don't know how long his heart has been this big. This is the first time anybody has ever done a chest X-ray on him, which I find hard to believe. I also feel a large amount of disappointment in our medical system that this wasn't done before.

So we left with antibiotics, an inhaler (sweet Jesus those things are expensive), and Mucinex. Within a couple of days he was feeling better. Then the antibiotics ran out. The cough came back. Back to the doctor. Now they say he has pneumonia. More antibiotics, more sprays, and another X-ray at an imaging center.

I'm tired. I'm off schedule. We still get to go for the interview this weekend. Hopefully, J will feel better then. He really needs to be at his best, even if his best is achieved with drugs right now.

I will get to go visit my grandmother while he is being interviewed. The one I am not crazy about. I know this, the visit will be quick. I am only going to fight off any guilt I have in the future when she dies. I will have seen her one last time.