Tired of Rest

Is it possible to be tired of resting?  It has been about 2 weeks since I was diagnosed with pneumonia and pleuritic pain and has been about 2 months since I felt 100% since the infection was probably manifesting some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am SO READY to be done with sickness, injury, and rest.

As of last Friday my lungs were still pretty cruddy with crackles and rales that were STILL distinctly audible.  The pleuritic pain has finally started improving and has improved quite a bit this past week.  However, I made a promise to my husband, health care provider, and friends that I would not run or start training for anything until the pain is 100% gone and my lungs are clear. 

To most people this would not be a big deal.  I am still exercising 5 times a week by walking and doing the elliptical trainer at a moderate pace.  These past few months have made me realize that for me the benefits of exercise have a higher correlation with intensity of workouts than duration or type.  While I can walk on the treadmill right now, I can't walk at a pace faster than 4 mph without experiencing pleuritic pain with each breath.  The issue is similar with the elliptical.  As a result of this, I'm not getting the benefits of exercise that I used to and am not sleeping as well and feel sluggish throughout the day.

Being sick has made me lose some weight.  I've lost muscle, my clothes are hanging unattractively, and the large circles under my eyes make me look older.  I was commenting to one of the physicians in clinic where I work that I wish there was a way to put all the benefits of exercise that I have been missing in a pill form.  She reminded me that there is an illegal option, speed, or injectable variations of meds that imitate adrenaline.  No thanks!  Too bad all the folks out there on speed don't realize that they could get the same effects for free and legally - it's called exercise. 

At least I learned some valuable lessons from this. 

1.  Go to the doctor earlier when you feel sick.  A two week rule should work, if I'm not mostly better in 2 weeks after a cold or virus, it's time to go in. 

2.  When I am sick (even if I think it's just a cold or something small), rest then.  If I had stopped running outside in the cold back in early December when things started getting worse, my lungs might have been able to recover on their own.

3.  Prevention is necessary.  This is in the form of meds & overall health.  I need to take my vitamin, remember to get enough calcium + D, take medications to help prevent conditions from progressing (eg, I should have been taking a decongestant, & and an expectorant after the cold to remove the gunk that bacteria could grow in).  Considering meds are my specialty, you would think that I would be good at taking them.  Well, I'm not.  I don't even like to take Tylenol for a headache.

I will keep my promise and continue to rest until all my body has healed.  Data has shown that it takes about a month to fully recover from pneumonia so only another 2 weeks to go!