Really bummed...

Been a long, hard couple or three weeks since I was on here last....

I've smoked since I was 15, except for three years when I managed to quit and then went back under a stressful situation and restarted. I've known for years I had chronic bronchitis, but I've been going along well for the past five years, even to the point of leaving my portable oxygen in the car when going into WalMart and similar places, trying to wean myself off the stuff.

Three weeks ago or so, I caught one of these left-handed pneumonia viruses. I got very sick and anoxic very fast. The doctors had me on the very strong antibiotic I've always used for 10 days - and it wasn't hitting on nothin'. Dragged into the ER the next day by the EMTs after the wife called 911, finding me standing by the car in the garage trying to go to work and unable to catch my breath. The doctor would have kept me, except there weren't any beds available in the hospital until at least the next day - they were already stockpiling folks in the hallways. They put me on a completely different strong antibiotic, and after a week, I finally started feeling a little bit more like I'd survive this. Friday, I finally got our military referral line to send me to a local clinic because our base clinic was shut down for a "family day." The doctor there listened to me, and put me back on my original antibiotic. This morning, I finally came back to work after more than a week in bed, and I actually feel like I may now survive this bout.

I'm still smoking about half a pack a day, because I've got that monkey's talons sticking in my skin about an inch, but I'm going to see if our health and wellness center has the patches still. I ain't about to take any of those nightmare pills my co-workers have suffered through that you have to take for six months. I quit last time in 21 days, on the patch, and I'm even more motivated to do so.

So, if you're wondering why you haven't seen my Mosin-toting Elmer Fudd for a little while, it's because I've been under assault. I'll try to get back into tweaking Tex and suborning Steve and mooning Moose as quick as I can...