I am waiting for two things to happen. First my sister will let me know this evening if she is coming today. She is with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter heading south by car. They are in the vicinity of the town where we lived our earlier lives. My sister wants to visit the family cemetery, named ( Odd Fellows ), yes that is correct. I think it was started by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (originating from England in the 18th century. This is where our parents, fraternal grandparents, uncles and aunts are buried. Just next door to all of this is a hospital. Not too reassuring to be looking from your sick room over to this sight. She will probably want to visit another cemetery up the road - about 25 miles, called "Resthaven" where two of our sisters their spouces, and one brother are buried. Perhaps his wife also, I have not been there in such a long time. All of this information is to be found in our family geneology book compiled by my younger brother, some years ago. My sister is very sentimental about family. The first year she was married and living in another state ( an all day trip from home) her husband had to drive her back to see family every three or four weeks. He was a patient man in that regard, but he loved our family not having had a really cohesive family when he was growing up. He called my mother "mammy". He had come to our home with my brother when they were both on leave during World War Two. My sister never came back home to live permanently but still likes to revisit old haunts.
Today I am also waiting for a call back from one of my doctors ( a pulmonologist ) that may not happen until the end of the day. So, I will be here all day and finding a way to occupy my time has never been difficult for me. More likely it is a problem to find time for all I would like to do.
Having problems with my lungs started when I was 6 weeks old. That is pretty early to have whooping cough but it was verified by my next to oldest sister before her death in l992. No doubt I caught it from my sister who is coming today to visit. Our father said of her "she coughed for a year before she had whooping cough, for a year while she had it, and a year after she had it". So why am I the one with sensitive lungs ????????
When I first began teaching school in 1948 in Kentucky, each teacher was required to have a chest x-ray on a yearly basis. They were looking for tuberculosis. On my first x-ray a "spot" was seen. Diagnosis " unkown cause, x-ray again in a few months" This was done and no "spot" was seen. I had been ill with pneumonia the year before, so perhaps this was something left over from that. At any rate no more lung problems until the summer of 1973 when again spots were found. After spending the summer resting my doctor called me one evening and said "I am so sorry, but the medicine I prescribed for you is toxic to your lungs". So, I was off of that medicine and put on a new one which would keep my blood pressure in check and not be toxic to my lungs.
This is a continuing story but perhaps you remember when Legionaires Disease first became known. We had a leak in the ceiling of my room at school and the insulation fell off onto the floor. This was a few days before school was out but that summer was spent with tests for Legionaires, allergies to chicken feathers, and all kinds of strange things. Diagnosis "bum lungs". So, I was on antibiotics for lung infections until a doctor at Emory decided to have a look see down inside my air sacs. He did a "wash" and determined I had atypical T.B. I was quaranteed for two weeks while a culture was run but my doctor reassured me that he was 99.9 percent sure it was not T.B. Eventually it was determined I had MAI. Well I WAS Missing In Action but no special treatment was prescribed for some years. Then it was determined that antibiotics were no longer clearing up my lungs, so my then pulmonologist ran a culture to determine which medicines would best kill off the microscopic bugs which had colonized inside of me. I had been told early on that the cure was worse than the disease, so now I was to learn the real meaning of those words. For three months I was "sick as a dog" while on those medicines. They were making me so sick it was decided to stop all of them.
My concern now in 2009 is that the MAI has recolonized. But, perhaps not, we shall see how this all plays out.
I do hope this has not made you cringe, or start coughing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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