To say I was shocked to find out today that I had pneumonia is an understatement. I never thought it was a possibility. I never get sick- not even a cold- and isn’t pneumonia like a serious infection in the lungs? That people can die from?
To be honest, I really didn’t know much about pneumonia. So I pulled up Google. I was curious. “What is Pneumonia?” and “How do you Get Pneumonia?” and How long does it takes to kick pneumonia in the butt?”.
I really have my dad to thank for getting me to go to the hospital. Because I would have done what most people do- just lay in bed and wait it out. But now that I know that I have pneumonia- I thought I’d share the information I found. Turns out pneumonia is much more common than I thought.
My infection is in my right lung. My dad tells me that is the most most common lung for it to occur in. Probably why I never experienced any breathing difficulty. My left lung did the work. Or that’s my thought..
Some of the things I was surprised to find out is that there are many types of pneumonia and many types of different causes of pneumonia. You can get it from a bacteria, a virus or a fungi. Most pneumonia is caused from a bacteria and that’s what they are treating me for with antibiotics. But viral pneumonia often results after first acquiring the flu virus. Getting viral pneumonia then puts you at greater risk for bacterial pneumonia. So maybe a good idea to lay off the exercise when you get the flu. 🙂
Did you know that prior to the discovery of antibiotics, one-third of all people who developed pneumonia died from the infection? Currently, over 3 million people develop pneumonia each year in the United States. Over a half a million of these people are admitted to a hospital for treatment. Although most of these people recover, approximately 5% will die from pneumonia. Pneumonia is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Scary!!
I was wondering if there could be some connection to the swimming pool and swimming in cold water. Couldn’t really find anything. I found something called legionella pneumonia caused from exposure to hot tubs and fountains and cooling towers. That’s going to make me think twice about getting in that hot tub at the gym!
Did you know there was a pneumonia vaccine? First time I heard of it! Just like the flu vaccine. I never had a flu vaccine because I’ve never had the flu. But I never had pneumonia either. So maybe worth some consideration now. Plus I know I never want to feel so lousy again.
National Heart and Lung Institute has a great amount of great information about pneumonia, causes, treatments etc. Plenty of info to get fully informed! Here’s what I found from National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
Also- all different ages and many otherwise healthy individuals get pneumonia- and often the symptoms like mine show up as a simple fever to start with. You don’t get a fever for no reason. So if it doesn’t clear up in a couple days- get it checked out. It’s better safe than sorry. Here are some testimonials of people and the symptoms they experienced when they got pneumomia.
As far as being contagious from pneumonia, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t that likely to get pneumonia from simple exposure to a person with pneumonia. The common cold and flu virus are more easily transmitted person to person.
And can I give pneumonia to my pets? From the best info on the web I can find. Very unlikely. Thank Goodness!!
I’m wishing the best of health to you if you’re reading this- and hope you steer clear of pneumonia!
