Health and hockey updates

Friday I was officially diagnosed with bronchitis which aggrivated my asthma, leaving me with a shallow, wheezing, rattling breath and a hacking cough. The doctor decided my lungs weren't "processing enough air," and gave me an Advair inhaler. She also gave me 5 days' worth of Zithromax, an anti-biotic. Within a couple hours of taking the medication I started breathing better, and my wheezing diminished quite a bit. I had to go back for a follow-up visit this morning at 9:00 and the doctor declared a "dramatic improvement" in my breathing. It's much clearer and I'm not nearly as short of breath.

As far as hockey goes, I was initially told not to play this weekend. Then I found out that the rink went ahead and scheduled both playoff games for tomorrow. I had to call the captain and let him know to find a sub, and then had to sit back and deal with not being able to help my team win the championships. Not cool. So this morning I decided to be persistent and verify if I shouldn't consider playing. The doctor gave a rather alarmed look, but said that I could play one (but not both) of the games if I felt that I was truly up to playing. She also stipulated that if I grew short of breath or experienced any tightness or constriction in my chest or breathing, that I immediately stop and let someone else get between the pipes. I agreed to this and await what the next 23 hours brings to my health. If I improve as much by tomorrow as I have since yesterday I should be fin to play the championship game. I'll let the sub handle the semi-final, which is against the inept Warriors. Whether the finals are against the Cheap Skates or Red Wolves, it'll be a tough game and will likely push me to my limits and exhaust me. I carbo-loaded tonight with a big pasta dinner, and I'm going to spend tomorrow drinking alot of juice and water all day, also as per doctor's guidelines. But I'm determined to play if I'm physically able to... I'm the goalie and I won't abandon my team for the championship game. We'll win the title as a team or we'll lose it as a team, but I can't sit on the bleachers and just watch it happen if I can help it.