A Few Weeks in the Infirmary

I don't want to be Queen of the Whiney Pants over here, but we can't seem to catch a break in the last few weeks when it comes to our health.

In the last few days of May, Felix got pink eye. I tried to be a hippie and cure said infection with breast milk.

On the first day in June I woke up with a really sore throat, but I figured it was just allergies. I took some Sudafed, and we were on our way for a fun Saturday. By the middle of the day I knew my sore throat was something more malicious than allergies. I had a fever off and on, and my whole body ached and throbbed. Meanwhile, Felix's pink eye was getting worse despite the frequent expression of breast milk into his eyes. I called the pediatrician's office, which is open on Saturdays until about 1, and they called in a prescription for me without making us come in. (Hallelujah for that. If I'd realized they would do that so readily I would have called two days earlier.) We missed a party that night.

Sunday came and my throat looked horrible. I was pretty sure it was Strep. I stayed home from church with Felix, and we missed another party that night.

Monday I woke up in so much pain that I couldn't sleep, and I anxiously waited to call the doctor's office to see how early I could get in. When Eric woke up he informed me that his throat was really sore too. But his did not exhibit the terrifying tonsil issues that mine was exhibiting, so we were hopeful it was a fleeting problem. He went off to work, and I hauled the kids with me to the doctor's office. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I was praying for Strep Throat - it's treatable with an antibiotic, you see. Viruses, on the other hand, are not, and you just have to wait those out.

I almost cried when the doctor told me that it wasn't Strep. He had a look in my throat (he hadn't seen it yet, because the nurse had taken the culture to test for Strep), and said it was "impressive." And then he said I needed to be tested for mono. That was negative too. (I can assure you I was not praying for a positive test that time.)

So I had this horrible virus which hurt my throat more than anything else I've ever experienced. The doctor gave me herpes medicine because I had cold sores in my throat. (I've never had a cold sore in my life, so this is totally mysterious to me.) This did, at least, explain to me why I was in such constant pain. (After careful examination of my throat numerous times I counted seven cold sores at one time.)

I took a bajillion pills, and Eric gave me a blessing, and by the end of the week I was doing mostly better. Eric's sore throat turned out to be a pretty bad cold, but he's a tough guy and he worked in the yard despite the sore throat and muscle aches he was dealing with. Also during this time Ike popped up with pink eye because that stuff is really contagious and toddlers and infants are not really great at hygiene.

Friday my brother and his brood came to visit for about a week. I went to a physical therapist that morning for my horse-bucking injury, and although I was sore I was finally feeling like my normal self. That lasted about three days.

Monday I came down with Eric's cold. It's worse than your average cold. Or, possibly, my immune system is so embarrassingly weak that it is an average cold that has beaten the snot out of me. One of the two. I plugged along but didn't go into the office a single day this week.

And then today Ike came down with the cold too. And I have pink eye.