Quick recap: since starting my job in May, my peak flow
meter readings have dropped. About a month ago, my lungs were clearly flaring up. As is typical for me, I had the tubercular-sounding cough (everyone
at work was convinced I was deathly ill but no, I was just coughing), and worse
my numbers dropped below 250 (should be around 420-ish).
I'm pretty much a rules-follower. So when I saw my doctor last month, I followed his instructions completely (with the exception of getting a flu shot – that just is not going to happen). I got back on my inhalers, but my lungs didn't improve. I saw him again a few weeks ago because I'd gotten so bad, and he put me on a metric ton of meds. OK, not really a metric ton but I did get a feeling for what it's like for those on lots and lots of maintenance drugs. It gets hard to swallow all those dang pills in the morning. Ugh.
But even after all of that, I didn’t improve. I stabilized but wasn't getting better. Last week, he switched my inhaler to see if that would help and also suggested that I see if I could work elsewhere for two weeks to see if my numbers improved.
I was nervous about bringing the idea of working elsewhere to my manager, even though my company does have four other buildings in the area. I also wanted to give the new inhaler time to work. It's hard to figure out what solved a problem if you throw lots of changes into the mix. I suggested to my manager that I give this new inhaler time to work – say, two weeks – and if I weren’t better by then, we consider moving me offsite for a couple of weeks. She is most supportive of my health, which I appreciate a lot. I am confident my situation falls under reasonable accommodation, but it’s still very nice not to have to force anything.
But even after all of that, I didn’t improve. I stabilized but wasn't getting better. Last week, he switched my inhaler to see if that would help and also suggested that I see if I could work elsewhere for two weeks to see if my numbers improved.
I was nervous about bringing the idea of working elsewhere to my manager, even though my company does have four other buildings in the area. I also wanted to give the new inhaler time to work. It's hard to figure out what solved a problem if you throw lots of changes into the mix. I suggested to my manager that I give this new inhaler time to work – say, two weeks – and if I weren’t better by then, we consider moving me offsite for a couple of weeks. She is most supportive of my health, which I appreciate a lot. I am confident my situation falls under reasonable accommodation, but it’s still very nice not to have to force anything.
Between offsite meetings and the weekend, I hadn’t been in my normal office
since Thursday around noon. You would not believe the change. I’ve felt better,
slept better, had more energy and my voice wasn’t all weird and froggy. My peak
flow meter readings this morning were up almost 80 points over Thursday
morning. Even my director commented on the changes. “Wow,” she said, “you sound
the way you did when we interviewed you!” She was right, I did.
Did being the
operative word. By 10 AM, I was struggling again. And last night I'd dropped 60
points again. Cause and correlation are not the same thing, and I’m really
trying hard not to jump to conclusions the way Milo did in The Phantom Tollbooth. But I don't think the numbers are lying. I suspect my work environment is bad for my lungs. Stay tuned, I'll post an update a week from Thursday.
4 comments:
1) i love the reference to the Phantom Tollbooth as that is an amazing book!
2) it's your work environment. don't wait two weeks to 'see' if your inhaler works - clearly not working there makes positive changes. while it is rough asking for another work location, not scarring your lungs is pretty key.
So far I'm getting fantastic support from the company. I'm the one who wants to see if the Advair improves things -- when my BFF's husband (who has asthma like yours) switched, he saw dramatic improvement. But yeah, I suspect that won't be the case here.
Just to make you cranky... Here is an article by a Dr of infectious diseases on getting the flu vaccine: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/protect-yourself/
Nah it doesn't make me cranky but it also doesn't persuade me to change my position. I don't get colds either. I did get pneumonia and the pneumonia vaccine is a once and done event, which covers more varieties of pneumonia than each year's flu vaccine.
I know flu can kill, and I get his point. If I were a health care worker, or worked with children my position would be different. But I don't. So it's still my choice and until I actually get the flu, I'm exercising that choice.
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