It started as I drove home from USA last Tuesday, I began to experience a slight chest tightness and unproductive cough. By Wednesday the discomfort from this 'cold' was increasing. Three days later my temperature spiked to 101.5 (38.6C) and I called the doctor. The Saturday clinic was closing but they made an appointment for Monday morning. Spent 40 min with my family doctor who started me on a powerful 7 day antibiotic Lovofloxacin 500mg for a lung infection.
Tuesday 8am, I went over for a chest x-ray and had results by 4 pm:
FINDINGS: Cardiac, hilar and mediastinal contours are unremarkable. Airspace opacities are seen within the left lower lobe in keeping with
pneumonia. Lung volumes are normal. No pleural effusions. No acute bony pathology is seen.
IMPRESSION:
Left lower lobe pneumonia. A follow-up chest x-ray can be performed in one month to assess for resolution.
Our family doctor began booking with urgent Respirology clinic at Victoria Hospital asap and upped the powerful antibiotic to 750 mg/day from 500.
All seems to be well now. Minor chest tightness. No other symptoms. Fingers crossed.
It’s impossible to say exactly how quickly you’ll recover, but here’s an idea of what to expect:
| 1 week |
your fever should be gone |
| 4 weeks |
your chest will feel better and you'll produce less mucus |
| 6 weeks |
you'll cough less and find it easier to breathe |
| 3 months |
most of your symptoms should be gone, though you may still feel tired |
| 6 months |
you should feel back to normal |
You’ll recover gradually and can help by eating well, exercising and doing deep breathing exercises.
At first, you’ll need plenty of rest. As you begin to feel better,
you can start to be a bit more active, but don’t push yourself.
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