Hope you feel better soon LizzieAnn - have you completed our soup survey? Apparently chicken soup can make you feel better when you're ill...

Thanks Charlotte....I just had some for my lunch earlier on.....and I just completed the survey!

You take care and get better quick!
You must be typing that fast and completing that many surveys your body is tired.

Look after yourself, and keep taking that medicine.... and when you are feeling better don't tell your other half and get him to do more housework and care for you even more..... sneaky!!

Ruth X

take it easyLizzieAnn and get well soon. oh and do what you are told not what you think, the doctor is always right, get hubby and family to do everything. ttfn

Poor LizzieAnn hope you get well soon. Talk about double whammy. Look after yourself.

Sorry to hear your poorly LizzieAnn. It must be all that cold damp weather you have been having up there in Scotland. I trust your hubby and kids are running after you and doing a lot of pampering.
Chin up.

Poor you, a friend of ours had pluerisy a while ago and its not nice, hope you feel better soon x

wrap up warm and make sure they give you plenty of chocolate

I hope you feel better soon

Take it easy Lizzie, rest plently. Get well soon x

Hi Lizzie,
Get well soon I myself have had pleurisy and it isn't very nice. Keep warm and take the antibiotics and you will soon be back to normal xxxx

Poor Lizzie, my husband has had pleurisy twice in the last few years, i know how painful it can be, so sorry to hear that. Lots of rest and survey taking i think! Take care x

Not sure what pleurisy is, but if its any consolation I have recently been diagnosed with AS.

Get well soon

Get well soon Lizzie - sounds horrible, keep warm and rest!

aw thanks.....you are all very kind and I am sure I will get better soon with all your goodwill and good wishes. I feel rather low today and coming on here and seeing all your get well soon messages made me feel happier thanks !!!

Well LizzieAnn spring and daffodils will be along soon and you'll be tip top again.

Poor Pomski too, im not sure what A S is, but im sorry to hear of anybody being diagnosed with anything, i hope is not anything life threatening Pompski?

Get well soon

Bad luck Lizzie, sorry to hear of your malaise+ Let me know if you need any massage to the chest or back, I will be happy to oblige, very experienced in that direction+ Get well soon+
Baggy

Ooooh, thanks for the offer, Baggy.....I have a wonderfully understanding, kind, and thoughtful husband who is doing the massage already!! keeps me young! and him happy!

Yes, Pompski, what is AS, sorry you have been diagnosed with that, is it like MS?

Pleurisy is an infection of the lining between the ribs and it basically makes it really painful just to breathe....every time I sneeze, laugh or cough, it hurts like anything, with a sharp stabbing pain right through my chest, and I am struggling to take breaths at all....when I get to the top of the stairs, I have to sit down and have a rest before I attempt the return journey! I have not been out of the house for two days now and even the dishes are getting done and the dinner made miraculously by someone else....my family are really spoiling me, and it looks like it will continue. I did have a similar infection before, but it wasn't pleurisy, just an infection, and I struggled with breathing. However, chestiness runs in our family, and my daughter is asthmatic and my mother was bronchial.....it looks however like long-term I may have to go onto an inhaler, but they will check this out after my course of tablets is finished on next Tuesday. I hope not, as it will really affect me and I am worried also as I am very overweight.

On the bright side, however, I have found that my appetite has really diminished, so my diet is improving. I have had Tesco.com deliver lots of fresh vegetables and fruit for me so I can simply continue to help myself by eating healthily and relaxing and keeping warm. I find also that I am very thirsty. I have lots of water to drink, too. Surely my weight will soon stabilize and I will be able to breathe better after the course of antibiotics. It just seems such an incredibly slow process so it is a little depressing.

I also have a mountain-load of work to get through at work and I am not looking forward to returning to that!

Do you not have someone at work to do your bits for you? Or at least some of them?
You could be off for 2 weeks!

Sadly, there are only two of us in the office and it is non-stop stress and work and we really struggle to get our own work done never mind anyone elses.....I have been told the doctor will sign me off for a week but it might take longer to get better fully to return to work. I wish I could afford the luxury of getting better but it looks unlikely at this stage. Life intrudes, doesn't it, though??

My family are just away into town to pick up some bits and bobs we need, armed with little lists and lots of energy, it is so nice they have helped me so much and are continuing to do so. My daughter does all the dishes, my son dries them, and my husband helps with the cooking and does all the cleaning and washing and even changes all the beds. What more can I ask for....getting someone to do my work for me would be too much to expect wouldn't it??

aah it is nice you have a lovely family, i am the same, i think no one cares sometimes and then when i am really ill i am stuck in bed and everyone rallies round, so you don't really realize how much you are appreciated until something like this do you, sorry to hear you have no help at work, all i can say is it will still be waiting for you then when you get back!
Could they not get a temp in if it is so urgent? Sorry,but i do not really know what line of work you do?

I do secretarial work, but it is very specialized and they never spend money on temps but I agree with you about it all waiting for me when I get back....ho-hum.....

I also agree with you about having a lovely family...you are really lucky too, Serena, it is nice to be appreciated, and I never forget it.

It good that tesco deliver to you, i get them regular to avoid trolley rage lol. You might not go back to shopping instore, i didn't after my burn.

That sounds painful, I feel for you.

Thanks for the concern regarding AS, I wasnt trying to steal your thunder! Below is a very basic overview of AS.....

Ankylosing spondylitis (pronounced ank-kih-low-sing spon-dill-eye-tiss), or AS, is a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, although other joints can become involved. It causes inflammation of the spinal joints (vertebrae) that can lead to severe, chronic pain and discomfort. In the most advanced cases (but not in all cases), this inflammation can lead to new bone formation on the spine, causing the spine to fuse in a fixed, immobile position, sometimes creating a forward-stooped posture. This forward curvature of the spine is called kyphosis.

AS can also cause inflammation, pain and stiffness in other areas of the body such as the shoulders, hips, ribs, heels and small joints of the hands and feet. Sometimes the eyes can become involved (known as Iritis or Uveitis), and rarely, the lungs and heart can be affected.
The hallmark feature of ankylosing spondylitis is the involvement of the sacroiliac (SI) joints during the progression of the disease, which are the joints at the base of the spine, where the spine joins the pelvis.

OOh sound painful, i have arthritis in my knees, hips and now my knuckle joints are beginning to feel stiff and painful, it runs in my family so i wont be able to get away from it, i do need to get tested to make sure it is not osteoarthritis as this is what my mum has in her spine and she now has 2 new hips, it is an awful painful thing, but obviously AS is a more serious condition, i have had severe sciatica for over a year before and wanted to kill my self with the pain and the feeling of uselessness so i hope you will be well looked after with pain management and help, im sorry you have been diagnosed with this Pompski.

Poor you Pompski, and Serena, not pleasant at all. I feel for you. What can you do in terms of self-help?

By the way, Serena, thanks, the hot water bottle on my side really seemed to soothe the pain.

Its not pleasant, my dad pleursey 10 year ago and wasn't nice. My brother had pneumomia which GP said was mild chest infection which lead to him collapsing and finding himself in ICU, nearly lost him.

How terrible, Ros. Pneumonia is very serious I know, and severe. Your poor dad, too. 10 years ago I don't think they could do so much to help as they can now, although it is a slow process, I have been taking antibiotics for three days now and feel very sore and breathless still....I wonder how soon you start to feel better....I am feeling pretty down

My best wishes for a speedy recovery Lizzie.

Well going by my husbands recovery with antibiotics, i think it took him a good 10/12 days to feel reasonably comfortable again Lizzie, but everybody is different,but i hope this gives you some sort of time frame.
By means of self help, i find Glucosimine sulphate tablets are really helpful, as apparently when your joints get arthritis it is a sign(as you get) older that you are losing this from your body and replacing it has been proved to be helpful, you do not really notice a great deal when you are taking it, but when/if you stop, well you do really notice that it was working, so its a good and cheap tip to help with arthritis as you can buy supplements in poundland and also cod liver oil capsules along side relieve symptoms as well, you have lots more good/comfortable days than bad, put it that way.

oooooh, 10-12 days - that is depressing, Serena!! I find that sneezing is the sorest! I feel as if my shoulder blade is coming out of its socket each time I sneeze! I was so done in last night I went to bed and my children came in to say goodnight to me and I had already fallen fast asleep and never heard a thing! My husband tucked me up in bed and I never even noticed! I slept until very late this morning and feel still a little groggy, but I find the stairs the worst. I really cannot do much without getting out of breath.

Thanks John for your good wishes, too, and all of you are being so kind. I could really do with some virtual grapes, you know....! thank you again, I am sure I will get better, it is just so slooooow and I am not known for my patience. I suppose I should simply enjoy the rest!

My husband has just reminded me its actually 3 times he has had Pleurisy and says he hopes you feel better soon as he knows how you feel, he also said keep warm! Take care and keep hold of that hot water bottle, you will be fine x

Thanks, Serena's husband....what is his name, so I can thank him properly?

Oh, three times.....I must admit, I have spent the past two evenings on the couch before bedtime with my hot water bottle and it seems to help. Did your hubby have an inhaler, and has he got asthma too or is it just the chestiness, Serena? He does have my sympathies!

He was very bad with it and has never been the same since, (his name is Tony)but it probably does not help that he smokes. He was very poorly and very pale, really worried me but no he did not have an inhaler, but he was very low and in a lot of discomfort and pain, and it is awful when you do not know what to do to help someone isn't it, he does not have asthma, he said "anything to help"

Thanks Serena....thanks Tony, for your concern! My mother was very bronchial and she smoked, and my daughter is asthmatic and has never smoked. I smoked and gave up nearly 20 years ago but smoking is really silly not only because it costs so much but because of what it does to you...Tony, you must STOP!!! We saved a fortune and my husband's sinusitus (which is made worse by smoking) cleared up overnight and he has never had a bout since!

I think the doctor means I am prone to Asthma due to my family history, really, but I do hope it doesn't mean I have it all the time! I wonder how it will affect my cycling?

Good to hear you gave up smoking, and i hope you feel better soon.