A Letter to My Morning Lungs

Dear Morning Lungs,

I’m writing to tell you that you’re doing your best. I don’t blame you for your sluggish mood every morning. I am sluggish and tired too. It’s hard to wake up out of that deep sleep and hours of shallowing breathing. I don’t expect you to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Your friend, the brain, is not awake either; so we won’t be extra hard on you in return. However, here is my pep talk to get you going! I hope it helps you push through.

Quiet and still

Nighttime lungs, you had a relaxed night last night; things were quiet and still. I appreciate this new quality about you, old friend. Remember those nights when you coughed all night long, unable to stop with all your might while burning energy we didn’t have? We never woke up feeling rested no matter how many hours of sleep we got. How could you, when you coughed enough to disrupt the sleep of everyone around you?

I can still hear the slew of noises you would make when lying on your back. Crisp, crackle, pop. Crisp, crackle, pop. Cough, cough, cough. Over and over and over again. Forget a white noise machine, you created your own. Truthfully, lungs, I don’t miss that time one bit. It’s nice to have quiet and restful nights; we must remember that.

Mucus traffic jam

Now I understand, that the lack of coughing, that once helped clear your sticky tunnels throughout the night, has halted causing a mucus traffic jam to come in the morning. You feel heavy and clogged up because you are. You’re full of crap in the morning! (Well, not quite literally, that’s your friend south of you who is full of crap. He has his issues we won’t mention.) Everything has settled overnight and it’s a morning commute situation. Slow moving, but you eventually get to where you need to be.

Don’t worry, lungs. Soon enough we get ourselves going and we will start our morning routine with coffee for me and Albuterol, hypertonic saline, Pulmozyme, and vest for you. You’ll clear everything out and feel better soon enough. You will get some relief from a hefty handful of pills as well. Help is coming! You just have to be patient while we feed the kids and the cat, make the coffee, put away the dishes, sweep the food off the floor, wipe hands and faces, change a diaper, answer a million thought-provoking questions from a 5-year-old, and put the baby down for a nap. Finally, it’s your turn to be attended to! Thank you for your patience! Thank you for keeping me going in the morning after all these years of ups and downs.

I know you’re tired. I know you’re full of junk, but overall you're doing great and we will straighten it out in time. Spoiler alert: You’ll feel better the rest of the day!

Warmly the Glue That Keeps the Gang Together,

Me

What would you write in a letter to your body? Share your thoughts with us below!