Today is World Pneumonia Day. Pneumonia is the world’s leading killer of children under age 5, yet it is among the most solvable of global health problems. I’m giving to the GAVI campaign. How about you?
I’m also participating by being a pneumonia sufferer. A week ago Friday (November 4) I finally succumbed to a cough that had been building for a few days and could barely get out of bed. The day ended with me getting hydration on the SCCA infusion floor. No doubt the proximate cause was a cold, wet, and ultimately fruitless evening watching the final Sounders game of the season. And of course my immune system was weakened due to the first round of chemo a few weeks before. Antibiotics were available fo me, though, and plenty of rest and nutrition, unlike all those 5-and-unders dying of pneumonia. So I’m much better now, still coughing, but a lucky guy in the big scheme of things.
I was scheduled to get round 2 of R+B+T on Nov 7 and 8, but the combination of the pneumonia and a low platelet count led the docs to decide to delay. This was not bad news to me, since I was hoping to attend IETF 82 in Taipei this coming week. I had my reservations all ready, and was reading those Internet Drafts, but as the week wound on and the cough persisted it became clear that it probably was a bad idea to go: many hours in the plane, jet lag, wet tropical climate, close quarters with worldwide geeks all added up to Too Much Risk. So I’m staying home. But, a note to other frequent travelers: apparently sometimes an absolutely non-refundable hotel reservation via Expedia can in fact be refunded; no guarantees but good to know.
Chemo is now set for Monday and Tuesday, Nov 14 1nd 15. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m staying home by myself, as it happens, since Eve is in the Netherlands on a dog-related trip (more on that later), and (since we were both going to be away) Julia is in Boston visiting Annika at Northeastern. So I made some bread:
Yesterday was, of course, Nigel Tufnel Day. I celebrated by watching This Is Spinal Tap, which fortunately is available via streaming from the video service that dare not say its name. Just as good as ever, like lukewarm water.