Today I travelled to Denver, probably for the last time. How strange it seems. To get here requires a three and a half hour journey by car to the airport in Phoenix and then a one hour and fifty minute plane ride and then a forty-five minute taxi ride. It adds up to a long day! I will meet with my doctor tomorrow morning, and have a chest x-ray and pulmonary function testing, a test that measures, among other things, lung capacity and how quickly one exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide. The latter is the more important disease indicator for sarcoidosis as a slower rate of exchange indicates deep tissue congestion/inflammation.
I am filled with memories of my many visits here over the last three and a half years. I have witnessed Denver in every season. So many memories are flooding back....
"Well, you will never run a marathon." Etty suffers from ongoing Sarcoidosis which is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily involves the lungs. Niamh, her sister, likes to run and is going to run the Cork City Marathon on June 6th to raise funds for those suffering from chronic lung diseases. This blog will be a parallel account of their trials and tribulations in the coming months: the would-be marathoner; the mother-of-three moving home and struggling with serious, ongoing Sarcoidosis.
Thinking of you. I imagine your doctor will have mixed emotions at letting you go. With a chronic illness, doctor and patient must form a bond of sorts. Judging by all that you said, you two got on well. Enjoy Colorado in the Spring, what is it like?
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Etty.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you every 'breath' of the way. Just back from The National launch of 'Daffodil Day' in Dublin where all the volunteers gather to compare their stories and share memories - an emotional trip always but it fades into insignificance compared to yours. x
ReplyDeleteThank you! No sign of Spring here though. It's chilly 14F/-10C!
ReplyDelete