Thanks everybody. I wasn't in Holland as it happens but the pneumonia is a complication from a bad fall which I had last Friday and caused significant bruising to my posterior rib cage. So I have something in common with Sergio.
I was in severe discomfort anyway from that but it was manageable with painkillers. However things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday night when I started to struggle for breath and was coughing almost constantly. Coughing when you've got badly bruised ribs isn't fun I can tell you and I was screaming from the pain.
Somehow got through the night & dragged myself into A&E where they x-rayed me and did a load of other tests. The good news was that there didn't appear to be anything broken but then a worried looking consultant came in and started asking me if I'd ever worked in a dusty environment such as a coal mine. I was a bit non-plussed and asked him why and he said there's a significant abnormality showing up with my lungs.
At that point the thing that went through my mind was that my ex's father had a similar experience where he fell, damaged his ribs, went for an x-ray and they discovered he had lung cancer. Fortunately they'd caught it in time and he's still going strong over 30 years later but I was shitting myself at that moment. So getting told that it was probably pneumonia was actually a relief in many ways. I'm told it's not uncommon when you've suffered rib injuries as you can't breath properly and your lungs get congested as a result.
I feel like shit and am just catching a hours sleep here and there when I can, which is why I'm up at 3 in the morning. I'm at that point currently where the wooziness from the opiates they've given me to control the pain and help my breathing has worn off but the pain & coughing hasn't quite kicked back in so I'm relatively coherent.
I'll be publishing a cooking/cleaning/mopping-my-brow rota later on as I'm sure you're all keen to do your bit to help so if you have any preference let me know. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet early next week.
But another reason I'm up is that I'm worried sick about a fellow blue. If anyone listens to the AmericaCityzens podcast, Josh (who does that) has been suffering from severe depression and his last tweets suggest he's done or is about to do something stupid to himself. I'm praying that's not the case but it puts my problems into perspective. I hope he's ok.