Hello pneumonia my old friend

 One of the features of being autistic is often missing the words to explain what's wrong with you, especially physical ailments. When you seek medical treatment, your face and body language often do not match what you're feeling or what you are trying to put into words. 

 This is the third time I have pneumonia. The two times prior, though I felt 'off', I had to cough up blood to seek medical help. This time I was able to notice it before it got that bad. When asked by triage nurse why I thought I had pneumonia I said... it felt like it and I didn't want to wait till I was coughing blood. Got a strange look.

 Another thing I've noticed is... I'm so used to coughing, hurting myself coughing that I really don't pay that much attention to my coughing. Eighty percent of the time I end up seeing a doctor because a family member or friend tells me my cough is worse and I should get it looked at. 

 It's more or less what I told ER doctor. Cough worse bf insisted I be seen. It also never helps that when I get pneumonia, I don't register high fevers. The past 2 weeks I had low grade fever that peaked at 37.6. It's also what clued me in because I never 'look' like someone with pneumonia.

The sucky part? I had to cancel my COVID-19 vaccine. ER doctor said to wait till I'm better.