It was a bacteria infection. For 9 months I have been coughing, and between 8 doctor’s they
“threw the kitchen sink” at me with drugs. No one did tests. prescriptions would be written for drugs with no idea if they would do any good. I had chest x-rays, ct scans, and three rounds of antibiotics. One doctor even wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic “just in case.” Some times the cough and congestion would get better, but most of the time it got worse. At points I couldn’t even talk, and forget running. I couldn’t breathe while running, or at work.
And then I finally got an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat doctor. Once again nothing appeared to be wrong, but because he listened and knew something wasn’t right he did a culture from the back of my mouth just in case. His gut told him it was a bacteria infection despite all of the antibiotics. Two days later I was on the strongest antibiotic available for a bacteria infection that was resistant to all other antibiotics I had taken. All it took was a culture, and within 48 hours I finally felt like myself again. And friends and co-workers noticed immediately.
I learned a lot about myself through all of this. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up if you think something isn’t right, and your doctor’s aren’t listening. It wasn’t easy. A lot of the time it was really frustrating, and the hard part was not letting that frustration spill over to other parts of my life. There were days that I cried, wallowed in bed, and hid from things going on around me. My co-workers and friends shouldn’t have to deal with my problems, or my constant coughing. I missed out on things I wanted to do, races I wanted to run, and goals I wanted to smash. 2015 is a new year. A chance to restart from the beginning, and tackle one goal at a time. I’ve learned that I have some amazing friends, an amazing support group, and through all of this I’ve learned how strong I really am. So, watch out 2015!
Keep fighting for yourself. Don’t ever give up!
runningviolinist 