Today is a week since I left the hospital. I started feeling better, stronger and more like myself Wednesday. I told Larry when he got home from class to get me out of this house and let's go do something in the sunshine! So we went and bought a truck. :)
Larry bought a Dodge Ram pickup when he was in Quitman and we only paid a couple thousand dollars for it. It was just something for him to get back and forth in and it's a great little truck! We just wanted something to take trips in (we're planning another weekend trip to the beach in a few weeks!) and not worry about getting broke down somewhere. We paid my car off last week and jumped right back into debt just like that. I'm still a lunatic about my credit score and since we paid the mortgage off, all we've had is the car. It's crazy but when you pay something off and have no open credit (which is the ideal way to live for us!), your credit score goes down. That makes no sense. So anyway, to keep your score up, you gotta keep making payments on something. So we got this new truck. The guys at the dealership absolutely HATED me, I know, but I spent 16 years in the business and I don't pay sticker, I don't make down payments and I don't do insurance and fees. I just ain't gonna do it. We ended up getting the best deal! $3,000 behind book (and I booked it out myself to make sure!) with a 2% interest rate. You just cannot beat that.
We got a Suzuki Equator. Four-wheel drive, midnight blue and gorgeous. I never even knew Suzuki made trucks. The Equator is built just like a Nissan Frontier and actually, Nissan built it. I have a Nissan now and my last car was a Nissan. I just LOVE Nissan. :)
And we love our Suzuki! And I really, really loved the pollen on the hood! Wooo hoooo!!! Finally.
I can't wait to take you to the beach! :)
I tried to go back to work yesterday but the base doctor wouldn't allow me until I've had my follow-up with the infectious disease doctor (and that's Monday) and have something from him saying I'm not contagious. I'm NOT contagious. And I worked three nights with a high fever, body aches, chills, headaches, the whole nine yards, and as far as I know, none of my coworkers have come down with this. Actually, though, it's rare to have the severe symptoms that I had anyway. Usually, you get the virus, shed it and develop an immunity to it and never even know it. Counterculture chick that I am had to be all weird and stuff.
So, I'm feeling better, I'm so happy and grateful to be alive and well, we have a beautiful weekend ahead of us and I'm ready to see where it takes us!!
Whoa. Did anybody happen to get the tag number of that truck that just hit me?
I have been sick. Really, really sick. It started on Larry's birthday, of all days! I had such plans to make his day super special but I woke up with a low-grade fever, body aches and chills. I just knew I had the flu. Last year was the first year in four that I didn't get a flu shot. I still sent him to class and I tried to decorate a little bit with balloons and streamers. I took that day off work and stayed in bed. The next day was worse but I went in to work anyway and didn't stay very long. Stayed home again Wednesday. I tried working Thursday and Friday and felt so bad that I still don't remember how I got through those eight hours each night. That time is kind of a blur to me. The fevers spiked higher, the chills got worse, the headaches were excruciating and I knew something was really wrong and not the flu. On Sunday, we finally went to a Med Stop here in town, where they took blood and urine and found nothing, sent me home with a Z-Pak and bed rest for three days. I followed up with my doctor on Tuesday, she made an appointment with my neurologist because of the headaches but by Thursday, the day of my appointment, I was throwing up and couldn't stop and my fever was spiking toward 103. My neurologist cancelled my appointment and told me to go straight to the emergency room. And that's what we did.
We went to the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon. Truly the only place I trust. Those people saved my mama and daddy's lives and I most definitely trusted them with mine. I was worried about spending five or six hours in the ER but their policy is they see patients based on how sick they are, not when you get there. So needless to say, as soon as they saw me, I was taken straight to triage.
We got a room and saw a doctor and I was admitted that night. I was extremely dehydrated and have thin, flat veins anyway so getting an IV in me to start fluids was very painful. I had no idea of the pain that was to come. Oh my goodness, I don't mean to sound like a baby but they stuck me every day for blood and because my veins are so bad and "blow out" really easily, they had to start a new IV every day because the continuous fluids and antibiotics I was on were too much for my veins to handle. I will be black and blue for weeks. That was really my lowest, lowest time. Night after night, them digging and digging trying to find a vein that would work.
Larry is and has always been my rock, my hero. He stayed up all night, keeping cold cloths on my head, taking my temperature, giving me Tylenol and Motrin round the clock when we were fighting this thing at home. They pulled a bed in for him in my room once we got to the hospital and he was there, bringing me soup and sweet tea from downstairs, flowers from the park and constantly loving and encouraging me. He never left my side. And Jesus never left ours.
There was an old Chris Tomlin song we sang at church the Sunday before this started, the Sunday Larry was baptized. How Can I Keep From Singing. All I could remember of that song was a little bit of the chorus but I sang that song, I sang every bit I could remember every time they stuck me, every time my fever raged, every time my head pounded, every time I saw sadness and helplessness in my Larry's eyes.
I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart wanna sing.
When I felt a little better, Larry got on our laptop and found it on YouTube for me. I know the whole song now. :) And you better believe I'm singing it!
Turned out, the only thing I tested positive for is a nasty little heifer called cytomegalo virus. It's from the mono and Epstein-Barr family. Herpes. And Lord only knows how I got it. They say you usually pick it up from babies and small children and since there's a pretty long incubation period, it could have very well been when I held that baby at the drug rehab place in Macon at Christmas. Or it could have just been somebody sneezing on my food in a restaurant. Who knows?? And how I lived lo' these many years avoiding it, we'll never know.
I came home Friday. I'm still weak as a kitten and still have a little nausea, especially around certain smells. My plan is to get my strength back, get my appetite back and get back to work this week!
When something like this happens, you definitely find out who loves you. I just want to thank all of you who left me messages on Facebook, the ones who called and texted us, and even those of you who didn't and just prayed. I felt those prayers covering me and I am so grateful for each and every one of them. Thank you so much to those of you who came to see me, even though you didn't know if I was contagious, if you could catch that mess, too, you came. Mama and Daddy (thanks so much for the Easter goodies!), Ami and Brian (thanks for the balloon and beautiful spring flowers!), Bob Berlin, John Lash, our church family, Lisa Skinner, Brother Andy Cook, Melody Cook (thanks, y'all, so much for the gas card!), Russ McTier, April Eidson (who brought us a ton of delicious Cracker Barrel veggies Wednesday night for supper!), my 561st Wingmen and friends, Mike Cole and Pam, Judi Cruse (who brought me some yummy lotion!) and Andrea Padgett who came to see me and Andrea delivered a gift and sweet card signed by everybody and stuffed with cash! Thanks to Tia Pike for the delicious cupcakes from The Blue Cupcake. She had them delivered Saturday so that we wouldn't miss our Sunday Cake. So sweet and thoughtful!
Lisa Skinner cooked a feast for us last night for supper and brought it to us. Roast beef and potatoes, green beans, salad and pumpkin pie bars. It was all so delicious!! Thanks, girl, for your friendship and your love. It really means a lot to me.
They say the lifespan of this thing is 2-3 weeks. Tomorrow will be three weeks. I'd say she's outstayed her welcome, wouldn't you? I've got a spring to enjoy!
