I've been ill for 20 days now.

I’ve been ill for 20 days now. Cough, SOB, pre-syncope, copious brown sputum production, mild fever at the beginning of illness.

Finally went into a walk-in clinic after passing out from exertion just trying to feed my livestock. (I know, I should have probably been seen earlier but old habits die hard and “it’s just a chest cold” is probably the lie I was told growing up in eastern Montana, two hours from the nearest doctor, so we just suffered instead of trying to make the drive unless we were actively dying).

Satting at 96% on room air once I get to a walk-in clinic. The PA listened to 4 spots on my chest briefly and gets two CXR views. Then tells me I have bronchitis and sends me with an inhaler. I didn't believe her, so I called to make an appointment with my primary care physician.

I finally got an appointment with my PCP MD two days later who spends several minutes listening to my lungs. Hello pneumonia! He wonders out loud if the PA even listened to my wet lungs- I tell him she did but... just not very well. He asked if I got to see the CXR, but unfortunately the PA never showed it to me. The physician gets ahold of the the Xrays. They were read by the PA as being "normal". The subsequent MD read (a family med doc) states that it is atypical pneumonia. Now on steroids and antibiotics.

Hopefully I’ll finally be feeling better!