Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 8:18  p.m., D.S.T., Lafayette Regional Medical Center~

Dear Journal~

Ronee' Le-Anne Stinkowitz here.  

I'm afraid I'm not doing very well at the moment; in the hospital as I write. 

Pneumonia.  Went in two days ago and basically, I feel like crap, and that's putting it nicely.

It all started on Monday; felt like a cold was coming on.  No biggie.  Then the coughing and congestion got worse and two days ago, I was coughing up bloody-tinged sputum and my chest was hurting badly (mainly from coughing), so Michael had me put my oxygen on.  It didn't really help much.  I also had a fever and I just wanted to curl up and die; that's how bad I was feeling.

So Michael bundled me up and put me into his HUMMER and drove me to the ER.  I waited about two hours before the doc  came in and told me I was being admitted as the chest x-rays revealed I had pneumonia.  I already knew that; pneumonia and I are familiar friends (if you can call pneumonia your "friend").

I have been x-rayed, poked, prodded, stabbed, and whatnot and I am exhausted.  Whoever says you get rest in the hospital has obviously never been a patient.  At least I have nice nurses and my primary care doctor, Dr. Sanjay Mahapatra, MD, to help me through this.

Michael has been at my side just about every minute, only leaving to take a much needed break from me, his sick wife, and calling my family back in Tennessee about the latest updates regarding my condition.  He has been a love through all of this, but I can tell he's probably as tired as me (if not, even more so).

I don't know where I got pneumonia, but I did.  I should have gotten the shot sooner (like back in September; it's now October).  I blame myself.  Michael, of course, thinks I am being ridiculous, but I can't help it.  I hate it whenever I have to go into the hospital!

Well, I am going to close; getting sleepy; meds in the IV are talkin' big time.  Plus the nurses (as well as Dr. Mahapatra) all say that I need to get as much rest as possible in order to beat this thing.  I will write in here another day; hopefully I will be out of the hospital by then ....  until later, this is Ronee' Le-Anne Stinkowitz saying so long and God bless!

~Love, your friend in Louisiana, Ronee' Le-Anne.  :(