sick stories

for those of you who are unaware, i have had BRONCHITIS and been ill for 3 weeks. it seems like 3 years. the baby gave me her cold, and i felt a little better 5 days in, then turned around and got bronchitis. have seen dr. 3 times as of yesterday, finished 10 days of antibiotics and 6 days of steroids, and started new steroids yesterday; FINALLY turned a corner and am on the mend.

everybody get up and do the happy dance! because being so sick is really a drag. you feel awful, and you are bored and restless but you know if you do the slightest thing you'll be back in bed anyway so you may as well stay there in the first place. the person who may be the MOST happy about this turn of events, so to speak, is DH, because he wasn't picking up slack, he was carrying the whole darn rope.

so i have hilarious stories to tell about how stupid you get while sick and how it affects you to have a 2-year-old around while trying to recupe (hint: not positively).

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the first time i went to the doctor for this illness was my first trip to the doctor since we moved last August, and i had to establish care with the new family physician everyone else had already seen. and i listed off my meds and allergies and thought i did a good job - until he started writing a prescription for antibiotics. and my brain FARKLED right out and said i was allergic to the drug we had cleared years ago and that we had cleared the one i had a reaction to years ago. and he wrote me up and sent me on my way.

i toddled off to the pharmacy to pick up the meds and the pharmacist met me, quite concerned, as their system had flagged the medication as an allergy (THIS IS WHY WE USE THE SAME PHARMACY ALL THE TIME, PEOPLE!). my reactions were all as an infant so i felt like i could take the medication anyway (the two in discussion are related), and i'd just wait for DH to come home before i took it. (i had no reaction in 14 days)

what makes this hilarious to me is my type-A personality has NEVER forgotten an allergy before. and i have a list of 6, which i list off in descending severity order. because i'm type A. i had to be seriously cement-headed to screw that one up!

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i had another incredibly amusing story which i told DH and have promptly forgotten, most likely LaLa details which were going to bore most of my random readers anyway...

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but yesterday, at my third (yes, THIRD) trip to the dr. for this stupid illness, we had FUN. the antibiotic had seemed to clear the infection but my stupid asthmatic lungs did NOT want to feel good or like i could oxygenate adequately or even take a deep breath. i was coughing constantly, sleeping poorly, and felt like i was going to die (a common feeling at this stage of bronchitis!).

so the doctor is befuddled why i'm not responding to medications and rest. and so he ordered some blood work to check things like Lyme disease, and a chest x-ray in case he was missing something with the stethoscope. and i toddled off to the resident vampire to do the blood draw.

where i tried my darndest to pass out (AKA vasovagal reaction). i sometimes get lightheaded and have to put my head down with blood draws, but i've probably had hundreds over the years (i also used to give blood) and less than a half-dozen reactions, so i recognize it when it happens but don't expect it.

and it was bad. i lost about 80% of my vision, and stuck my head between my knees and drank the juice they offered, but i wasn't coming back. had to step into a wheelchair and off that onto an exam table (staff did NOT know quite what to do with me!). ice to the neck and wrists and knees elevated and the whole shebang for 15 minutes while i waited for my arms to stop tingling and my vision to return to normal. which it does - a vasovagal reaction is NOT serious, just inconvenient.

the adventure was compounded by having my precious princess LaLa along. i had to throw her out of bed and into the car to get to the appointment, and she was actually very well-behaved waiting for the appointment. she got concerned when the nurse took my blood pressure, LOL! and she wanted to play with the computer but instead sat in the doctor's stool and stared at it. when he came in the room she looked as guilty as she ever had and slunk onto my lap. it was adorable.

then i went to the blood draw and the staff gave her a short stool and stickers to keep her busy instead of jumping on me while needles were about. and she did great - no worries with mom trying to fall out of the chair, no worries about the needle or blood, just did as she was told and followed the wheelchair to the other room.

when they came back to check my blood pressure again, THAT worried her. so as long as you don't wrap things around my arm and pump them up, you can do just about anything else to me and she won't mind. LMAO!

NB- my bp was only 90/60, which may have contributed to this reaction.