Did they find a diagnosis? Did they indicate if it could happen again? What do you have to change now that you're home? Just asking cause it could help others.
Best theory they have is that I had a tooth abscess at some point in the recent past (6mo or so) and didn't know it. I breathed in some of that bacteria and it settled in my lung and created this infection. They didn't really know why it chose this time to flair up and become a problem. They also couldn't find any other aggravating environmental factors that would have caused the infection at this time.
I've technically still got pneumonia (I think that's right, basically a lung infection), and they sent me home with another 4 weeks of antibiotics to take. I wasn't given any restrictions other than "don't push yourself", which I quickly found to be true.
I'm still extremely easily "winded". Multiple long sentences, a flight of stairs, things like that will give me pause. It's different than before. I used to get winded and feel like I wasn't getting full breathes. My breathing was more shallow and quicker. Now I'm getting good full breathes, but the capacity to do something with it just isn't there. I'm going to have to rebuild that over time.
The only other caution they gave me was to stay at home as much as possible, and ALWAYS wear a mask in public until a vaccine, or other treatments are found for the current pandemic. They said my risk will diminish as my strength builds, to a point but would always recommend a mask for the foreseeable future.
The big changes for me over the near term are no alcohol (because it reduces the antibiotics efficacy), mask usage in public, and an exercise routine to build cardio and lung function back to an acceptable level. They also want me to visit my dentist when he reopens for a complete check and repair of any damaged teeth or cavities that might have occurred over the last year.
Basically........bad luck and timing for me.
