An Unplanned Hospital Experience Circa 2023–2024
When I came across medium in 2021, I was looking for a place where I could upload my professional and semi-professional (book reviews, history, and literature) writings. While occasional glimpses of the personal are there, people often accuse me of not being more social, more personal. They aren’t wrong. While I dabble with opinion pieces, I don’t necessarily publish many of them.
Since I’ve not had the opportunity to write anything in eight weeks, I thought I would get back into it with something a little different. I am a family caregiver currently caring for my 83-year-old mother. Taking care of her is primary and writing is secondary especially right now.
Just before Thanksgiving we both got really sick. She ended up with double pneumonia while I came down with regular pneumonia. For those unfamiliar when they say double pneumonia they simply mean that you have pneumonia in both of your lungs. There’s more of a chance that you might have to worry about fluid in the lungs.
Mom began a series of hospital stays and nursing home rehabs (for recovery and building up strength) as we both tried to get well. This strain of pneumonia is quite the nasty bugger. I still have a cough, no ability to smell anything, and some very weird things going on with my sense of taste.
