Life in rehab

My day starts in the morning with the normal ritual of breathing my nebulized medicines- xopenex, pulmozyne, hypertonic saline and tobramyacine accompanied by constant coughing to clear out my lungs. Only now the routine is not mixed with the challenges of everyday family life. There are no kids to direct in homeschooling, no laundry to catch up on, no dinner to plan, no house to clean. I am responsible for only me, myself and I. What a strange feeling to have the constant pull from the tasks of life suddenly removed. I feel a little lost by myself.

I am off to pulmonary rehab at noon every day. I am there for 3 to 4 hours. I start the time with chest physio therapy, this is where a respiratory therapist beats on my chest and back in an effort to loosen the secretions. Lots of coughing is involved and I feel tired at the end but it is time to move onto stretching and breathing exercises. Then I walk for 20 minutes. Each step, each breath takes the effort of lifting an elephant from my chest and pulling the pachyderm along. After my walk I move along to weight training. The bigger your muscles are the more oxygen they need. I don't think I will be turning into Arnold Schwarzenegger any time soon. Finally I end on the nustep machine which is like a stepper but sitting down.

After rehab I took a nap in my van, eager to lay down, too tired to drive back to the hotel. I rested in the gentle sunlight and felt the warm embrace of nature caressing me, lulling me to sleep as I relaxed in the peace of the moment.

Along with the above described routine tomorrow I will begin transplant school, a series of lectures discussing all aspects of transplant. Do I really want to know more? What's the saying about ignorance being bliss?