Monday, November 14, 2011

un-asked for diagnosis.

Went to the dr today, and they xrayed my lungs and there is no pneumonia. In fact, the radiologist said everything from heart to lungs is normal or not unusual. The dr said I need to see a pulmonologist to test for lung function. She said that a cough can linger a couple months after an illness. Goody.

They gave me a printout of the analysis of my films from the radiologist, including the one from when I went in two weeks ago. I pulled into my drive at home and looked at the printout and noticed this little depth-charge: Mild degenerative disc disease is demonstrated at multiple interspace levels in the thoracic spine, it said.

Uh, what?

The first person I told about this said "it's an age thing, sweetie."

Um, ouch.

How did this getting old thing start happening to me?
Cough or no, I'm getting back into the yoga studio. Even if I only do half the stuff and end up laying in corpse pose for half the time, at least I'll feel like I'm doing something, instead of feeling held hostage by a cough like I have for the past 5 weeks. I don't think I have symptoms of the disc thingie yet. Let's hope I continue not to have...

8 comments:

Alan said...

"corpse pose"

Who gets to draw the chalk line?

phlegmfatale said...

Smarty pants, Alan!

Jess said...

My mother-in-law had a nagging cough after a cold that lasted for a few months. It drove her to distraction, since it was a dry cough and didn't yield any phlegm. The doctors didn't have any recommendations and told her it would eventually go away.

Old NFO said...

You DON'T want those issues... trust me! Corpse, rotations, do SOMETHING and yes, sit up straight and roll your shoulders back at the computer too!

Keads said...

Ah, don't worry. Just remember someone who is 71 years old told me last week: "Getting old is not for wusses".

Anonymous said...

glad it was wasn't anything serious.

and unfortunately the taking longer to get back to 100% is another sign of getting older.

be sure to listen to you body. rest when you need it.

B-

Jennifer said...

I've had degenerative disc disease for quite some time. It's not always an age thing. It can happen with injuries too. Mine is likely related to landing on my head while trying to do a flip in a moon walk as a kid. You know, because I've always been terribly graceful.

phlegmfatale said...

Jess - I'm sorry your mom had what sounds very much like what I'm grappling with, but it is comforting to know I'm not the only one

Old NFO - thanks for the reminder on the computer posture!

Keads - Bette Davis said that, too!

B - Thanks for the advice-- I will try to heed it!

Jennifer - You've made me feel better about the disc thing, young lady! :)