swine flu--my experience

So, I wasn't really keeping it a secret that I have the swine flu. But I wasn't planning to broadcast it to the blogosphere either. But then tonight I was so discouraged with my 'condition' that I started surfing the web and reading the testimonies of random swine flu victims. That's when I realized how helpful it was to hear how others fared, how quickly they recovered, what it felt like, etc.

If you have had the swine flu or anyone in your family has had it, I'd love for you to leave a 'comment' on this post so others might learn and hear too.

I am particularly blogging about this to help any parent out there whose child might have it, and the parent doesn't know what the child is feeling/facing. And also to ignite sypathy/compassion/endurance in any caretaker out there who is supporting a sick spouse or parent or child.

My swine flu experience: we were in Sacramento thanksgiving week with my family and had a nice week. Zach (my 6 year old) had a cough, but otherwise the family was healthy. I got a lot of rest in Sacramento too because my ankles/feet were bothering me. We arrived home 7 days ago (Sat, 11/28). I went grocery shopping and noticed a slight sore throat (6 pm). Within an hour my throat was burning with pain. I started to feel weak and achy. My neighbors had shared some soup with our family, which was our dinner. I went to bed around 9 pm with lozenges, nyquill and the worst sore throat i've ever had. Woke on Sunday morning at 10 with a fever--101.5. I felt like I had swallowed a golf ball--my tonsils were so swollen and I could not speak. My neck looked like a football player--large lumps under my chin and the sides of my neck, and the lumps followed a trail down to my collarbone. I came downstairs and tried to function. Around noon I told Curtis I had a 'mom cold' and I sat down on the couch with leftover soup. I fell asleep while eating the soup. Curtis jostled me awake, and I felt immediately like I was going to faint. I couldn't hold up my head or my torso. I *think* I either fell asleep or fainted on the couch (i was snoring). Curtis helped me to our bed where I slept that afternoon from 1-6. Woke for three hours and was bedridden, could hardly lift my head. Simply having the strength to move to the bathroom was challenging. I stayed in bed. Fever was at 102.2. I was taking advil and alkaseltzer flu.

Monday 11/30 Curtis is scheduled for hernia surgery and I am very sick. My throat was worse, which I didn't expect was even possible. I stood over the sink trying to gag myself and then had a panic attack because I couldn't breathe--something was stuck in my throat. I was trying to cough up or throw up whatever was in my throat so I could breathe--but I could not get it out. I felt like I was wearing 10 turtlenecks--like I was being choked. My fever was 102.7--I had tears coming out of my eyes from choking. I felt like someone was squeezing my temples of my head--my ears were screaming with pressure. In my throat was a burning sensation, like I swallowed burning water and had blisters all the way down my throat, And behind my eyes was heat--major heat--like a sunburn--dry and super painful.

I called my dr. and said I thought I had strep and I needed to come in ASAP. She looked me over and said I had swine flu. She did a swab test for strep to rule that out--which was negative. She never tested me for swine flu--she said she was 95% sure. She gave me a prescription for tamiflu and told me to take 2 advil every 6 hours for swelling of my tonsils. I called Curtis leaving the appt--he was at the surgery center for pre-op stuff. He told the center and they postponed his hernia surgery. I started to cry I was so relieved. And I was so tired. I came home and slept.

And here we are--it has been a week today. I keep waiting to feel better. I have averaged 10-12 hours of sleep each night, and I am sleeping about 4 hours during the day. When I am awake, I'm in my bed, laying there. Tonight I sewed a few buttons. I addressed some Christmas cards.

Wednesday my fever broke--so that was 4 days with 101-102 fever. But I am still majorly fatigued--and I still have a rotton sore throat--and my head hurts with pressure--at my temples and behind my eyes. My neck feels stiff from swollen glands, and swallowing is agonizing. I have no energy. So perhaps, because the fever is gone I feel 30% better than I did a week ago?

What maybe worse now is my spirit--discouraged, frustrated, powerless. A week and so little improvement.

Curtis and Daniel and Reagan have bad coughs (although Reagan was sounding better this afternoon). I feel bad sitting in my room listening to Curtis dote on them while he himself is sick--while i am quarenteened and without any energy to help. I feel bad he's been on the couch for 6 nights (his choice). I feel grateful for the many friends and family who have brought meals, texted, helped with the kiddos. I am overwhelmed by the support we have here. I should be ENcouraged, but I guess tonight I'm just ... sad. I feel really bad, and there's nothing I can do except be patient and wait and accept.

I was online looking for some *hope* for how long this will last. When will I have more energy? When will the pressure in my head go away? When will I be able to swallow without feeling daggers? And that's when I thought maybe someone out there just like me is doing the very same thing--so, i share my story with you.

If you are reading this, I would LOVE your prayers ... not just for me but that our kids will not catch it, that their colds will go away, and that Curtis's cough will go away, and that he will have the endurance he needs right now. pray for a blanket of healing over our house. thanks.

Advent Conspiracy

We've entered Advent--the time of the year when we remember that Jesus came as a baby, a miracle, sent to save us and bring us into a restored relationship with the Father. It's a time to prepare our hearts-to reflect-to worship-to anticipate His Second Coming. I love Advent.

Have you heard of the Advent Conspiracy? Such an exciting movement among churches here!! Such a challenge to think less about gifts, gift giving, and stuff, and more about presence, service, and worship. I LOVE it and I NEED it. I had to share.

in a nutshell ...

It's been too long since I've blogged, I almost dont even know what to write about. Here are the last 10 days in a nutshell ...

As always, the visit to Sac-town was fantastic. My folks are extremely accommodating, and they dote on the kids. I sometimes think about the friends I have who have dysfunctional, painful or broken relationships with their parents. And I am SO grateful that my adult relationship with my folks is filled with such love and respect. My mom and dad are more than I could ask for--such wise, giving, smart, humble God-fearing people.

C & I manage to sleep in several mornings; I went with my Pop to the gym and rode their recumbent bike whenever I could; I spent oodles of time icing my injured ankles and arches wondering if I had a stress fracture and looking for a quick fix (there isn't one, btw); C & I had a great date night for his bday and saw The Blind Side (WOW-what a impactful movie!! and FYI, Malcom Gladwell says its one of the most inspiring books he's ever read--how's that for an endorsement!); I soaked in the oak trees and I have in mind to ask Erin to paint me some on canvas; I visited with Christy at Peets (two YUMMY things to share at the same time) and I came away marveling at the quality of friends I had growing up and how we continue to understand, embrace, and challenge each other (i am SO thankful); I saw my grandma who seems to be aging quickly these days with Parkinson's and visited with my aunts and uncles (a particular delight was seeing two of my cousins who are beautiful and grown up and fun)(tangent: how many cousins do most people have? I have 8 cousins TOTAL. but my mom has over 40 cousins, and C's dad has over 50! holy moses!); I stayed up WAY too late plowing through New Moon and Eclipse (i know i should be embarrassed by my addiction); the Broncos ... good heavens ... the Broncos finally won after 4 embarrassing, shameful losses that left me seriously white-faced and nauseous; my sister & I took our mother and daughters out to a luncheon tea and Rey DELIGHTED in the dress-up closet until I nearly spread her on my pumpkin scone and ate her deliciousness; we arrived home and I fell victim to a horrible sore throat and high fever, leaving me bedridden these past 4 days and utterly dependent on the graciousness of neighbors and friends who have saved us with meals and childcare and kind emails. Today is the first day I've felt up to moving, albeit only to the computer room to email, FB, and give all 10 of you blogger-buddies an update ... in a nutshell, of course. :) I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! (my ankles are better, btw!! that's what 4 days of laying in bed will do for ya! :) and I don't have to worry about shedding those thanksigivng pounds anymore since i can hardly swallow. '...always look on the bright side of your life-da da, da da da da da da...')

library

Just finished Twilight, and on to New Moon (thank you library!). Um, yeah, I read Twilight in a day and a half. plowin through it!! easy and entertaining!!

BUT that brings me to a new subject--how the HECK are libraries organized these days? MY goodness, am I so out of it? i walk in and feel like a complete idiot. They are by author now, yes?, and not by number. (where are the card catalogs?!) And you go to a computer and type in the book. They might be under teen, fiction, adult, they are coded by hardback, paperback, humpback ... There's a new books section too, and every sort of subcategory--adult fiction, adult non fiction, biographies, histories, stenographies (j/k), of course videos, and good gollie, why do people BUY books anymore when you can get whatever book you want (albeit in USED condition) at the library? WOW. And here in the OC, you can request a book to come to your library from another library in the county ... so if I don't want New Moon in paperback, I can make the library in Westminster (15 miles away) retrieve and deliver me a copy in hardback. (now that is a bit high maintenance, is it not?) Who pays for these deliveries?? just wondering?? I'm positive that many of my blogger friends who live in the country don't have this luxury at all!! So I just want you to know I don't take it for granted! It's AWESOME to have access to all these great books and magazines and resources. But I am a little .... what's the word ... googley-eyed over it? It seems over the top!! When I request New Moon to be put on hold and she says, "do you want it in paperback or hardback?" that sounds incredulous ... and then to be followed with, "do you want to have it delivered from a specific library, or first available?" my jaw almost hit the floor!! Good gracious, FLY IT IN why don't ya?! LOL!

twilight

Did you read the books? Do you like the movies? I'm seriously thinking of picking them up. The thing is, when a book series is THAT popular, it is influencing THAT many people, i sort of feel like I should read them, to stay up with the culture ... at least so that I can engage in the conversation.

BTW, this brings up, I guess, a thought: so i mentioned before how small my world is. And when I get around vball people and they are talking, sometimes I am SO out of it. I don't mind it, but it strikes me that in order for connect with people, it helps to have a little pulse on the times, simply so I can join the conversation.

for example, the TV show "Wipeout." never watched it. didn't even know what it was. And they are talking about it--different obstacles and things and I'm discreetly thinking, "what is this show Wipeout?" so what do i do? i go home and ti-vo Wipeout. :) does that make me a follower? or does that make me desperate? or does it make me wise?

Or ... Twilight. Enough people are talking about it that I almost feel like i SHOULD read it, simply to know what they talking about. last night on Jeopardy (cause that's what us 'old married folk' watch, there was a whole category on Twilight!) And of course, Harry Potter ... I read somewhere that over 50% of Gen iY has read the Harry Potter series. Gen iY has been shaped by Harry Potter the way Gen X has been by Friends and Seinfeld. FIFTY percent!! That's CRAZY.

And now that you mention it, the whole reason I joined FB was because EVERYONE was talking about it and EVERYONE was on it. Am I a band-wagon member? yeah, sure. And there's no shame in that. have I been glad I joined? YES, definitely.

And I started my blog because I had friends who blogged, and I loved reading their thoughts and reflections. my point, I'm not going to abstain from these things out of some strange principle or fear of following. if i'm interested in it enough, then i'll give it a whirl. Why not?

To 'join in the conversation' is one reason (of many) that I watch sports. Sports is a universal conversation. You can talk about it with the checker at the grocery store, with your neighbor, with the gas station attendant, etc. And the news too. Another potential connecting point with the "real" world. (though careful how political you get--that's likely a dividing point!)

Anyway, i know it might sound idealistic, but I want to be a person able to engage with the real world. and in order to do that, i have to enter into the conversation. I think some people might disagree with me on this principle, but I feel fairly confident Twilight is another way I can connect with people and become their friend and maybe through that earn some credibility to speak into their lives about bigger, spiritual things.

laundry system

Here's my laundry system, and I'd love for any suggestions for how to improve it. I can say that this is the best system yet (but that might change as the laundry increases). Keep in mind I have a two-story house, and a laundry chute, and all the bedrooms are upstairs and my laundry is downstairs.

Kids toss dirty clothes in laundry chute. (they are the only ones to use it). Curtis and I have hampers that are sorted by colors and white. When a hamper is full, we bring it downstairs to the laundry room.

I usually start the wash on Saturday nights and finish on Sunday, and then do another load or two on Thursday. By doing my laundry twice a week, I find I have less to do and can get it done faster. BUT I don't feel like I'm doing it every day, which is nice.

I have three laundry baskets for hauling.

So Sat night I will start a load or two and as I advance them, I move the clean clothes to the couch, and I fold while watching football or a Sat night movie. If they are on the couch I am very quick to fold them because I hate a messy living area. After folding, (now THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART) I immediately put the clothes into the laundry baskets and carry them upstairs to my bed (which is made). I put the clothes on my bed in sorted piles. The children are responsible for putting away their own clothes. Now, that means I have to be ok with their drawers being a chaotic mess. But even D puts his clothes in his drawers (with a little direction from me).

The benefit of putting all the folded clean clothes on my bed is that I cannot CLIMB into my bed until the clothes are put away. Motivation!!

Z has a boatload of hanging clothes, as do C & me. I drape the hanging clothes on the laundry baskets and make sure to carry them upstairs with the rest of the clothes. I have Z and R bring me hangers and I put them on the hanger and they hang them in their closets (with the help of a step stool!) With all of us working together, clothes can be put away in less than 20 minutes, albeit, not as nicely folded as they once were, but alas, the kiddos are learning. And I don't feel like such a slave.

bananas

I really don't like bananas. Not at all. But I hear that they're good for me. I've been cramping a bit here and there (mostly calves), and I have several friends who are vball coaches and athletes who are telling me to add a banana to my diet each day. So, I need your advice. How can I sneak a banana into my diet each day?

Ideas:

1. smoothies (YUM)

2. nutella (YUM)

3. on oatmeal?

4. YOGURTLAND (yum yum yum!)

What else?? I need more ideas. Why do they have to be so pastey? BLECH.

You really should read: The 6 Awesome Health Benefits of Bananas. Once you read it, you'll be convinced too. (I am particularly interested in bananas because of their potassium, mood enhancing abilities, sleep help, they are high in vitamin B6 and fiber, AND they help build your immune system (which i need for a few different reasons apart from simply not wanting to get sick).

So, dear banana, since we've only met a few times, let me introduce myself. My name is Karen. I think you are pastey and bland and smushy. But i hope we can be friends. Maybe in time I might like you? I'm going to try to look past my first impressions. Be nice to me, ok?