Just Breathe

I will never again take for granted the gift that is breathing. For a while I have been having issues with difficulty breathing due to the mitochondrial disease but nothing like this. Whatever infection hit me hit me hard and set up a chain reaction of lupus inflammation and mitochondrial weakness in my lungs. I am getting by on breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock (yes you can fall asleep giving yourself a breathing treatment sitting on the side of the bed) and the maximum dosage of cough syrup every 4 hours around the clock plus now steroids. I have had pneumonia, I have had walking pneumonia, I have had bronchitis and never have I had to work this hard to breathe. I am thankful that in the end this will taper down to a new normal for me. That it will ease off once the inflammation settles and the muscles come back on board as much as they are willing. I will probably do breathing treatments forever now, but I am blessed. I can breathe without oxygen (I cut that border line close a few times but I made it), I can receive the treatment I need, I am improving ever so slowly and I know that after this breath there will be another one. I am blessed. For now I am blessed to just breathe.