Pneumonia

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csutherland

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2002
Messages
314
Location
Springfield Mo area
Jerry has had a deep rattly cough for over 4 wks now. I had the same cough before he did and mine took 2 wks to resolve but his never did. He saw our new PCP on 7/28 and he diagnosed him with pneumonia and prescribed an antibiotic and inhaler. He felt fairly decent that week and even worked painting walls 2 of those days. We've been having horrific hot, humid weather for several days and late Sat evening he decided he could mow the lawn, as in "I'll just be riding." When he came in he didn't feel so well and all weekend had a low-grade fever of 100.2 or less.

Tues we went back for a re-check and he was having trouble getting his breath. When they did the blood oxygen thing it was 89. A breathing treatment on the spot brought it up to 98 immediately. Another xray reveals that the pneumonia looks worse than before. Actually, more definitive, I'd say. The first xray was kind of "iffy." Now he's on Levaquin and a nebulizer. His fever is staying around 100.

Needless to say, he won't be doing any more mowing any time soon, or any painting. He's quite an active guy for his age so this is not sitting well.

Forgot to mention, he had his first pneumonia shot just before this started. The shot itself was a bugger. His arm & shoulder were so sore for about 36 hrs he had to use the other hand to move it. He had already said he'd never have another of those, and now he halfway thinks it contributed to the pneumonia instead of preventing it.

I mentioned endocarditis to the dr and he dismissed it. Hopefully he knows what he's doing.
 
Oh Celia-

I hate to hear this. But the Levaquin should work on getting this pneumonia gone.

I hope to hear another post in a few days that he's feeling better. Best wishes.
 
Celia,
I think the paint vapors and the allergens thrown up by the lawn mower probably were the culprits. Both will aggravate any ongoing lung disease. Hopefully the Levaquin will knock it out, but Jerry needs to cooperate too!
I hope he recovers quickly.
I haven't been out in this heat. We're roasting the same as you are (I'm in SE Missouri) so I've stayed in and let the air conditioner run.
 
Forgot to mention, he had his first pneumonia shot just before this started. The shot itself was a bugger. His arm & shoulder were so sore for about 36 hrs he had to use the other hand to move it. He had already said he'd never have another of those, and now he halfway thinks it contributed to the pneumonia instead of preventing it.

I mentioned endocarditis to the dr and he dismissed it. Hopefully he knows what he's doing.
It is uncommon , but it IS possible for a vaccination to cause the very
virus that its trying to prevent; if one has a cold/flu/or decreased immunity
for any reason the virus can take hold even in it's attenuated form.
My younger sister has a muscular disease of unknown cause, it wasn't
realized until later that it was caused by the polio vaccine she was given
as a toddler. The chances of this occurring are roughly one in a millions,
and she is only affected in a muscle in her ankle, but still it is frightening.
I get my pneumonia vaccines sometimes if I'm reminded and have never
had any problems...I guess there are risks with anything, and I dont want
scare anyone away from their vaccinations, they really are a godsend.
Re the endo carditis , it doesn't 'sound ' like he has it, but with my fear
of it ,I always watch out for that one!
Hoping your husband gets better soon-Dina
 
i had the vaccine,too cuz i am diabetic...ended up hospitalized for alomost a week in march. my o2 sats-"blood oxygen thing" was dropping in my doc's office from low 90'2 to 80 :eek: ! so 911 was called....anyway-point is it can get nasty-if he's not better in a couple of days-maybe try the er? or another doc ! he should not have a fever of 100 hanging around sending good vibes your way. hope he's better. trish
 
Hey Celia...I am so sorry to hear of Jerry's pneumonia....my mom had that shot in June and her arm hurt that bad too...I thought that was so weird!!! Hope he feels better fast!!! Deb
 
Summer illness, let alone pneumonia, is really the pits. Hoping he's feeling much better very soon, Celia.
 
I'm guessing he did NOT wear a Respirator while Painting or Cutting the Grass.

I've gone from wearing a simple face mask while mowing to using a Full (dual filter) Respirator. I may look like Darth Vader but I can Breathe much easier both during and especially AFTER mowing!
 
Well....I did see him with a little mask on while mowing that day. It's just a flimsy-looking little thing to me, the type painters use. He doesn't use one to paint any more though because he only paints walls & ceilings with latex--not the nasty-smelling stuff.

He was better when I got home from church yesterday and stayed that way all evening. We even drove to Steak-n-Shake and split a hamb/fries, the only thing that sounded good to him. But at 4:00 am when it was time for his nebulizer treatment he woke me feeling terrible again; achy, a temp of 101 and he didn't want to sit up for the treatment so we skipped it. I gave him 2 tylenol tabs and this morning he had no temp and felt a better again. The Levaquin messes with his INR so he goes back for a check on that tomorrow. He'll probably stop by the Dr's office again if he isn't improved.
 
Well....I did see him with a little mask on while mowing that day. It's just a flimsy-looking little thing to me, the type painters use. He doesn't use one to paint any more though because he only paints walls & ceilings with latex--not the nasty-smelling stuff.

He was better when I got home from church yesterday and stayed that way all evening. We even drove to Steak-n-Shake and split a hamb/fries, the only thing that sounded good to him. But at 4:00 am when it was time for his nebulizer treatment he woke me feeling terrible again; achy, a temp of 101 and he didn't want to sit up for the treatment so we skipped it. I gave him 2 tylenol tabs and this morning he had no temp and felt a better again. The Levaquin messes with his INR so he goes back for a check on that tomorrow. He'll probably stop by the Dr's office again if he isn't improved.


Yes, Levaquin does mess up the INR but it should knock out the pneumonia soon, I hope.

I've had pneumonia twice in the past & it can really take a toll on a person & could end up being fatal if not treated promptly.

I hope your husband gets better real soon! :)
 
Jerry felt better yesterday afternoon; however, this morning he's not good again. His temp is 100.5, he has zero appetite, weak, coughing & SOB at times. He's to get another xray today right after getting his INR checked, then we have to wait several hours to see the dr.

A nurse friend who actually works on the "lung" floor at the hospital said maybe it's time for him to be on IV antibiotics.
 
Sorry to see that Jerry is still unwell. You must both be exhausted from it all. Sending prayers for him to recover soon. Best wishes.
 
I agree with the "lung" nurse. He may have to be on a combination of antibiotics.

Joe developed a Klebsiella blood infection which he recovered from and later on developed Klebsiella pneumonia which can be deadly (probably not what your brother has).

Both times he had an Infectious Disease doctor manage his condition. And both times he was in the hospital with at least two IV antibiotics, plus pill antibiotics. He stayed until his bloodwork came back satisfactory. And even then he remained on antibiotic pills at home for several months and was followed by an ID doctor during that time, until his bloodwork came back all clear.

I hope his doctors get a handle on this very, very soon.
 
I had Pneumonia once ... the worse thing I ever had ... including AVR... I was out of work for about a week and a week after returning I thought I was going to die! ... Back home with more antibiotics and it was three weeks before I could return to work ... I was around 30 years old at the time ... this stuff is nothing to mess around with...I hope he is feeling better...
 
If an antibiotic is the right one, I think a person should begin seeing results pretty soon after beginning it.

This may or may not be helpful but I was thinking of the most recent pneumonia experience our family had: a few years ago, my mother-in-law was hospitalized with pneumonia and the antibiotic was doing pretty well but after the culture had grown the doctor said he'd try her on a new antibiotic that was supposed to be better for her particular strain of pneumonia and she had a sudden and very bad reaction to the new antibiotic and they put her back on the original antibiotic and she ended up recovering very well overall, though a bit setback because of the bad reaction to the other antibiotic.

Thanks for the update. I sure hope your husband's feeling better soon. Best wishes :) .
 
Today's xray revealed very little, if any, change from last Tues. The dr seems rather puzzled that Jerry's not following the textbook for pneumonia. He says Levaquin is the best drug for this and upped his dosage from 500mg to 750. He also added Prednisone and has set him up for a CT scan on Thurs just in case there's a pocket of infection in the lung that can't be seen by xray. He said if Jerry gets significantly better before the app't he can cancel it.

Things are looking up already. I got home at 6:00 and Jerry had supper cooked! He actually had thought of something that sounded good and was able to fix it. So maybe there's a light at the end of this tunnel after all!
 
This reminds me that when I get bronchitis, the doctor also puts me on a couple of inhalers in addition to the antibiotic.

Glad Jerry's feeling better, Celia. Take care :) .
 

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