8:30 AM
Dear Sisters,
Thank-you so much for your prayers. During the Alpha Conference I had an annoying sore throat and an off-and-on ear ache. I received prayer and kept myself in prayer, claiming healing and felt like I had kicked the thing. Tuesday, after WATTS Bible Study I went to Chester. Wednesday I started coughing. By Thursday I was coughing really hard and had sore ribs. “This is not good,” I thought. I was so tired I did not want to drive back to Fairfax, but the Healing Class at Falls Church was Thursday night and I did not want to miss, so I drove back.
By Friday morning I knew I had pneumonia. I could feel it. The PA in my doctor’s office did not hear it, but my coughing was out of control. So she prescribed antibiotics and cough syrup. The syrup is codeine and guifensen. I was already on about triple the dose of both of that! By Monday morning I could HEAR the rattling in my chest. I went back to the doctor and saw another PA. She gave me a breathing treatment and a shot of steroids. A prescription for 2 different asthma medicines, a prescription for steroids and an order for a chest x-ray.
I have had steroids put in my spine before, but they were always buffered by painkillers. This was not. It hurt a lot going in but it hurt more within 5 minutes of the shot! I sat in the parking lot and cried. Then I called Tim to see how long it would take him to take a bus to me and drive me home. I was afraid I would pass out from the pain! It would have taken over an hour so I decided to attempt the drive but I made him stay on the phone with me while I did it. We prayed first ,of course. I had to drive with my right arm only. I could not move my left. He did leave work early and came home by 3:30 so that he could drive me to get the x-ray.
When I called Linda I had just crawled into my bed. Linda’s number is programmed into my cell phone. I was crying from the pain of the shot. I also called Truro’s prayer line. Within an hour the pain began to subside. By 3:30 when Tim got home it was only as bad as if someone had hit me! By supper time the pain was mostly gone. I have to say that the meds did work (and all the prayer.) This is my first time to get out of bed and come down stairs except the trips to the doctor.
I have never had pneumonia before. And to tell you the truth I think that really I have had a problem since the surgery. I have always had a huge lung capacity. After the surgery they brought in the gadget to see how much I could inhale and I could move the ball up into the OK range. So they did not do breathing therapy on me. Whenever I have had surgery before they have pounded my back and made me cough and breathe deeper. I can usually move the ball up to the top of the device. Since I had back surgery I don’t suppose anyone was going to pound on it.
I am wondering if my lungs “filled up” in surgery. I have been tired and coughing lightly since the surgery. What I think is, that when I got the sinus infection, the germs easily moved down into the lungs because the lungs already had a bit of water still in them. That is just a theory. But both Tim and I have noticed that I have not been able to breathe as deeply since the surgery. I thought it was just the extra weight I put on.
In any case I have been coughing plenty now! My ribs hurt. My back hurts and my diaphragm hurts from coughing. The meds are reducing the inflammation so the pneumonia itself hurts less and the cough is more productive. The asthma medicine does help reduce spasm type cough. I was coughing until I could not get my breath. Today I actually feel like I could go out to Bible study but Tim has my car. He had to go to Baltimore for a convention. So I guess I will lay about until tomorrow. I plan to be in the prayer room on Wednesdays from now on.
Thank-you, Linda, for always being there for me. You are a very special friend. Thank-you for putting my name before the sisters for prayer so promptly. Thank-you, all, for your prayers. A special thanks for those that wrote me notes. Harriet I am keeping your grandson in my prayers that he will receive a miraculous healing from God. I missed seeing you all at church on Sunday. I sort of lost track of time. Yesterday I thought Friday was the day before. Tim had to remind me that a whole weekend went by.
I love you all so much!
Your sister in Christ,
Rebecca Ford
