I believe that I am finally cured of pneumonia, rhino virus bacterial pneumonia that is, which I believe I got after Covid struck me for the second time in October and stayed with me through what I thought was nothing more than a persistent cough and excess phlegm problem.
It tired me out so much that I stopped walking my daily 10,000 steps and was lucky to step 3,000 times a day, according to my Fitbit, needing tissue paper and a makeshift handkerchief for the congestion that had developed. I live with my son Nicholas and his family which includes four children which I had to take extra care while in their presence. I always wore a mask and and covered my mouth when I felt a cough coming while in the kitchen or dining room.
And then it hit me. Getting out of bed around 10 pm on January 21st I got dizzy, fell toward the floor near my bathroom, and my son me ordered an ambulance to rush me to the hospital. I had suffered no bodily injury, thank God, but the intake personnel at Bryn Mawr Hospital discovered that I had pneumonia.
Spent five days with feeding tubes of antibiotics being pumped into my body and a bunch of pesky little attachments to my chest and stomach. The food wasn’t bad but it often got stuck in my teeth and I had no toothpicks to remove the pieces. No one offered to help me with any floss and I had to use a broke-off piece of a plastic fork to get a little relieve.
And then the indigestion kicked in. I suffer from acid reflux and my daily medicine from the VA hospital was stopped by the doctors because it would interfere with their antibiotics. Ah man, how I suffered. And not just for the five days in the hospital but a whopping nine more days upon arriving home and being directed to take antibiotic pills twice a day.
Had to get a Doctor’s Approval for TUMS
(I couldn’t believe the nurses at the hospital had to get the doctors to officially prescribe Tums to help me while I was in their hospital bed. They were not authorized and only the doctors could do it! Order Tums, man Tums.)
And where does that leave us upon this viewing? Well, I ate pepperoni pizza with extra cheese in preparation for the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl game Sunday night and had no negative aftereffects. A sausage, egg and cheese sandwich from a nearby ALDI store was easily digested the next morning and today I can gleefully shout from my Conshohocken home “Free at Last, Free at Last, thank God Almighty I am Free at Last.”
Contoveros 
The following 45 messages were shared on Facebook:
Bruce Saul
So glad to hear about your recovering but it sounds like you had a rough time for a while.
Michael J Contos
You never know how you’re going to react to something until you come face y ok face with it. Like not being able t ok floss your teeth in a hospital or suffering indigestion so many times.
Bruce Saul
Being sick is no fun.
Michael J Contos
You got that right my Brewerytown friend!
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Bill Barry
Get well soon-Sandy Schwartz wants you back at work
Michael J Contos
Looking forward to getting back to wok with a clean bill of heath!
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Roe Searles Ferry
Feel better soon my friend!!!
Michael J Contos
I am on the road to recovery and hope to meet up with some of the old gang in April when Dan Behl conducts another neighborhood get-together.
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Patty Kline Capaldo
Sorry you went through that. I’m so glad you’re better now.
Michael J Contos
Over and done with and just another episode of life to write about.
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Kathy Gillen Stradling
Hope you are feeling better.
Michael J Contos
The more and more I hear from old friends the better I feel.
Thanks a bunch!
Kathy Gillen Stradling
You will always be a special part of my life!
Michael J Contos
Nick feels the same way!
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Nadja Dalantinow Cross
Yes, hopefully a speedy recovery!
Michael J Contos
I am on my way and won’t slow down for a while.
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Luba Schmid
Glad you’re feeling better!
Michael J Contos
Me too, a thousand times too!
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Beth York
How awful! I hope you keep getting better.
Michael J Contos
I am getting better particularly when I see your smiling face and all the others wishing me well on this journey called life. It has its ups and downs and gives you lots to meditate upon and later write a blog.
Beth York
let’s plan brunch or something when you’re up to it!
Michael J Contos
Brunch sounds good and someplace near my Conshohocken home would be delightful!
Beth York
I have a Nudys gift card! Stephen and Lisa are you in?
Beth York yes. Let’s coordinate our calendars
Lisa Baxter Horwitz — Beth York that would be great. I haven’t seen Michael J Contos in so very long!!
Stephen Noonan
Looking ahead to being with you after all this time.
Michael J Contos
Looking forward to seeing such long-time friends!
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Patricia Muronoff Kalafut
OMG! You’ve had a rough time. I’m so glad you’re feeling better.
Michael J Contos
Wouldn’t it be great to never have to go through such troubles like a pandemic or catching pneumonia? But I guess it’s all part of life that includes the good and the not so good.
Patricia Muronoff Kalafut
I can sympathize. I went through 3 hospitalizations this year for A-fib. Scary as hell but was finally able to get an ablation in October. Let’s hope we’re all feeling up to getting together for pizza at Dominic’s soon.
Michael J Contos
Count me in even if I’m in a wheel chair or somehow lose my sanity.
Oops. Some might say I already misplaced that last one.
Glad to hear you got your medical problems over with. . .
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Janet Mather
So sorry you had to go through this! And so glad you’re on the other side !
Michael J Contos
It took a while and I would never want to go through it again.
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Martha Bush
So glad you made it!!
Michael J Contos
Me too. Now onto Valentine’s Day and the love of another healthy weekend!
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Kathleen McPeake Gilliano
Awe, feel better
Michael J Contos
I am starting already with your good encouragement!
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I had no idea you’d been suffering from this for so long (or at all). Glad you’re on the mend, Michael. Don’t know about you but I’m finding that as I get older, each little sickness seems to pack a wallop. Can’t even imagine going through pneumonia.
P.S. Congrats on your team winning the Super Bowl!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you from this die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan.
I hate to use that word – “die” – while talking about my hospital stay with pneumonia, but they won and in a way, so did I. We just have to deal with one obstacle at a time and we’ll all be Ok!
LikeLiked by 2 people
So overjoyed to hear you are doing much better! Floss….I’ll keep that in mind for any future instances that may happen upon my path in life!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Floss your way to happiness. At least, the happiness that can be found within your teeth!
LikeLiked by 1 person