Update on moi.

Right then. I'm feeling a million times better than I was a week ago. There's still some pain at the base of my right lung when I cough or breath deeply, although I'm still on painkillers for another week or so. I've missed a load of school which means I don't get to doss around as much as everyone else in the coming weeks - yes they have written exams and I don't but I have to do the 15 hours of art to do which must be done at school and I have three lots of coursework to hand in, one lot which still isn't finished because I left my draft at school, and the teacher's notes on it were crap in the first place.

I also feel incredibly full after having a McChicken burger and a strawberry milkshake from McDonald's. Given the fact that my appetite went to a real low recently, I feel that deserves a pat on the back at least.

My O2 sats are still jumping up and down. My high point was yesterday when I got to 97% although it was only for a few seconds. They enjoy pissing me off by going down to 89% and shooting up to 100% when my little sister tries it out. Show off. And my Mum has been phoning up the Doc to try and find out if they want to add any more time onto the IVs I already have just to be sure that I'll be OK when they finish. After several attempts and only successfully yakking onto his secretary, eventually they phone back and it turns out he does agree, and that'll mean a full three weeks of IVs in total. I don't think I've ever been on three weeks before, so I guess this is a bit of progression poking it's nose in? Although I would have preferred the big 'take care of yourself better' whack in the face to come along without having to get ill. Although that's basically expecting to wake up and find that my room is magically spic and span, and not covered in a load of clothes that need a trip down to the washing machine.

Sitting around at home watching TV surely beats having to sit around at hospital, but I swear, if one more person on the 'Jeremy Kyle Show' says 'Well, at the end of the day...' I could quite possibly scream. Its an old and worn phrase on that show, and each and every idiot seems to think they can sound smart, civil or diplomatic by saying it. And they don't. And half the time I wish I had the energy to chuck my shoe at the screen, but then I realise its probably not a good idea. Whilst I was at the hospital, I couldn't be bothered to shell out an arm and a leg just to watch a few hours of crap TV without subtitles, so I made do with a book. That book was 'Harry potter and the goblet of fire'. Have I mentioned I'm a complete nerd when it comes to books? Anyhow, I finished that book and moved onto '...Order of the Phoenix' and I kept on getting really tired whenever I read it, which didn't prove good as I was told to do my own IVs (and I'm still annoyed about that part). Overall, this means I'm very happy that I was released within a day as there's nothing you can do much with pleurisy other than complain, take painkillers and beg the antibiotics to work. Mainly as I have plenty of crap TV to watch and my Mum and Dad are perfectly happy to do my IVs for me, and I think its especially cruel to ask a patient to do their own IVs. I can do my own when I have the energy, and last week (and most of this week) I just didn't.

Oh and also, I thought the physiotherapist was supposed to come along when you're on the ward and force you to do physio. Well, they didn't. Maybe they didn't know I had CF (which would make the management of the patients a bit piss-poor) or maybe they didn't even bother with the ward. Which would be a bit ridiculous considering that it was a ward for people with respiratory illnesses. I saw my usual physiotherapist although she only stopped for 5 minutes like every other Doc did, to check up on me and (in her case) check what kind of method of physio I was doing whilst I had a bugger of an infection.

Speaking of which, my method of physio... I've ditched the acapella as it just seems to jiggle my throat. It gives you the feeling that you have a turkey neck, when you don't. So I've swapped back to the PEP mask. I dug it out, and it was covered in an inch of dust, so after a pretty vigorous cycle in the dishwasher, it was clean once again and ready for use. And against my better judgement, it works. At least to some amount to which the acapella never did. And it can help control the gaspy breaths that I seem to have come across since last Thursday. Y'know, when you try and breath in, and you seem to just make a gaspy noise and feel your lungs tightening rather than bringing in air.

So, in conclusion, pleurisy sucks, but for now, I seem to be kicking it on its arse thanks to a nice combination of IVs and painkillers that do the job!

Oh and... I'm sick of people whining over MSN or facebook claiming to have swine flu. Cuz seriously, if they did, I doubt they'd be near a computer. So before you claim to have it, dude, think it through.