One Sick Puppy

The week started off great! I felt so good after spending Sunday biking and Monday hiking, but I should have seen what was coming. My moments of greatness tend to be followed by moments of weakness. After biking Sunday, I had a little tickle in my throat. I thought it was just allergies, which is normal for me, so I took a Zyrtec D, rinsed my sinuses, and drank some chamomile tea before going to bed. Monday morning, I woke up feeling great and ready for our big hike. By the evening, the tickle was back. Thinking allergies yet again, I repeated the same steps from the night before and felt fine before going to bed. Tuesday morning was not so great. The tickle had turned into a sore throat which is very bad news for this girl! I had a really bad throat and sinus infection in February and another in April. This is my third so far in only five months! My tonsils are doomed! By the time I got home from work on Tuesday, I knew I would be going to the doctor Wednesday. I went straight to bed after getting home on Tuesday and woke up Wednesday knowing it was going to be a heck of a day. Fortunately, I was able to get an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. The doctor took one look at my throat and said, "ugh, that is an ugly looking tonsil!" He gave me a prescription for antibiotics and sent me home. By the time I picked up my prescription and got home, I was ready to collapse and by the end of the day, I had a fever, body aches, and couldn't swallow food. Thursday morning saw me up at 3am, unable to sleep due to strong chills followed by hot flashes, body aches, dizzyness, a pounding headache, and an infection that made both tonsils looked like beaten up golf balls. That's how things continued until Friday evening when my fever was so bad, it climbed to 104.3 while I was laying in a cool bath. After consulting with both of our dads (his is a health administrator and mine is a retired medic), Ryan decided the best thing to do would be to take me to the emergency room. Good call! They hooked me up to an IV with a mild pain killer, antibiotics, and steroids. It was a dream combination! My fever dropped, the pain subsided, and I was able to fall asleep. In just a couple of hours, I felt like a whole new person! We checked out at 1am and when we got home, I finally accomplished a restful sleep. I think I really needed a strong dose of meds to kick this infection. After taking it easy yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good. My tonsils are still a little ugly and scratchy, but they're definitely not as bad, and most of the other symptoms are gone. My goal for today: finish sanitizing the house and eat something that requires chewing. I miss chewing... haven't really done it since Tuesday when I ate a grilled veggie sandwich for lunch. What a week!

Thanks Ryan for taking such amazing care of me! I love you so much!