Dear family and friends,
We had an early appointment today with our pulmonologist (the lovely and delightful Dr. Janus), who prescribed a bunch of things to help me get better, including a nebulizer and the med that both our son Harvey and our friend Vaughan had recommended. The good news is that I am not likely to spread contagion now, and Merwin and I can be together again at meals and other occasions. We miss each other, though of course w see each other in passing. We don't usually spend a lot of time together anyway because we each have a study space, and that's where we are for most of the day. (The secret of a happy marriage?) I am noticeably weaker after over 2 weeks with little or no exercise. It will take a while to build up my strength again. But it will happen.
Last night I freaked out when I saw a bug in my bed. It wasn't a slow stink bug but a speedy wooly spider, I think. Ugh. Since I didn't capture it, I was uneasy during the night. That, added to the coughing, the itching, and painful ribs, didn't allow for a sweet sleep. But I am looking forward to better sleep tonight with my new meds, which include a week of prednisone. I blanched at that, but Dr J assured me that this would be a small dose, nothing like the huge dose I took for months when I had pneumonia last year, and it would not require tapering.This small dose will give me some of this strange drug's good benefits without the bad.
The only work I have done in recent days is answer email, which is work only when someone needs some information from me. Otherwise, reading email is a great way to be in touch with friends and family. Dave came over last night and fixed a few niggling email problems for me. These sons of ours are just amazing; they know so much. As Lincoln once said, he is not afraid to go fishing in the computer for answers to its problems, while I am always stuck and never seem to know where to look for answers—except to our sons.
Now that I know I am not contagious anymore, I am ready to consider celebrating our 60th (!!) wedding anniversary with friends and our children. Small groups are best for me. The plan is to go to a nice restaurant with a few people at a time, and I think I can handle that as soon as the coughing gets under control. I recall that when I got married, I thought, "because we are so young, we can probably celebrate a 50th anniversary." Things were so different 10 years ago; we both very healthy then and had the hubris to think that health and vitality would last forever.
Our friend Mike Jensen is working on a website that collects publicity materials for Shakespearean films. Here is the address for the Olivier Hamlet page: http://michaelpjensen.com/home_page/hamlet_1948_page_4/
Love to all,
Bernice
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