Days 5-9 out from the start of my treatments for C.diff I was feeling awesome! Not awesome enough to eat pizza yet, but definitely back to my usual active self. I went to William’s School Fall Festival on the 27th, then the church Halloween Party on the 28th, and then to church on Sunday the 29th. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at all three. With my boys, my Mom, and/or my hubby with me at each to ensure that I didn’t lift or reach for anything, it was like being pampered. I was even feeling good enough to still have our traditional Trick-or-Treating with our friends around our own neighborhood on Halloween. It really was a grand few days! And I really enjoyed our time with the kiddos and good friends. But….I guess I had picked up a horrible head cold from one of the three public activities I had been to in the last three days. Around 9pm on Halloween night, 9 days out from start of treatment for C.diff. I started feeling tired and irritable, and I was sneezing like crazy. The next day it was full blown head cold, and I was miserable. I was drained of energy and wasn’t sleeping well, and of course I was still having to sleep on my back from the post-op restrictions, so Shawn wasn’t sleeping well either (I snore). I felt so horrible that I told my mom on Wednesday night that I might have to reschedule my 2 week follow-up set for the next morning. Shawn opted to stay home the next day, talking me into going back to bed until it was time for the doctor’s office to open. I woke up feeling better enough, so we decided to go ahead and keep the appointment. I was actually doing much better for several hours, but later in the day my energy levels started waning. Then that night the head cold dropped into my chest and developed a cough in place of the sneezing. Shawn insisted that I go ahead and go in to my Nurse Practitioner in the morning to make sure it wasn’t turning into pneumonia. I was feeling a lot better Friday morning and didn’t really want to, I’d just been there a little over a week ago, and I really just wanted to wait it out, but I followed my husband’s counsel. I talked myself into it by saying I needed to pick up my post-treatment stool sample kit, anyway. My NP checked me over, never once making me feel silly for being there with a common cold that she knew was going around town. No signs of pneumonia. She asked what I was taking for the symptoms up until now and then suggested that I take “actual suphedrine” instead of the weaker stuff on the shelves. She gave me a prescription for it as well so my insurance would cover it and told me to take it through the weekend and let her know if it didn’t improve by Monday.
She also gave me the green light to be around other people, I would no longer be contagious. This was just the crud left over. Relieved, I went about my day, which included an eventful trip to Lexington and back with my Mom, Grandma, and Amelia. Then, we decided to go ahead and clean the church house that evening and go out to eat with my parents afterwards for fun. Cleaning was okay, I did little jobs I knew would be okay for my arm. Enjoyed the time with my boys and hubby. It took longer than planned, but we did a good job and were ready to go eat. I noticed that my eye had started “gooping”. Something it has done in the past when I have seasonal allergies act up. I assumed I had just stirred up some dust or something like that, and went about the rest of the evening. By the time we finished eating at the local Chinese buffet, my energy levels were bottoming out again, and I was starting to feel really drained. I dismissed it as just being a long day, and that I was just ready to be home. As I drove home, I began to notice that my right eye was feeling weird, and oozing regularly now. Hmmmm, I must have gotten something in my eye. As soon as I got home I went straight for my allergy eye drops, put two drops in, and worked on putting the boys to bed. It was late, we were all tired. Then as I passed a mirror, I realized that my right eye looked like someone had “popped” me in the eye. The upper eyelid was swollen just a bit in towards my nose, but even more alarming was the lower lid, it was swollen all the way down from the tear duct to just under my cheek bone. I started looking for a bite mark, thought about all the times I had been near my wiggly 5 year old, looked in my eye for redness, etc. Nothing gave reason for this to be happening. My eyes were clear, nothing was itching, no mosquito or bug bite marks, no rash…so why were my lids so swollen and why was my eye still gooping? I showed Shawn, then put a cool wet rag on my face, and continued to get the boys ready, figuring it was just a weird allergy thing…afterall I hadn’t had bad itchy eyes since before chemo…maybe this was the new normal for my seasonal allergies. I needed to give the drops some time to work. The rag always worked when I was a kid, too.
I let it rest overnight, giving the antihistamine drops and cool rag a chance to work, with the plan to go to the Urgent Treatment Center in the morning if it hadn’t gotten any better, and the ER during the night if it got worse, or painful. It didn’t get any worse, but it definitely wasn’t better the next morning. So, I got things settled at the house and headed to the UTC. The Physician Assistant was a new one for me, but she was kind and knowledgeable. She asked the usual questions, “How long has this been going on?”, “Any other symptoms?”, etc. After pressing on my face a bit, noticing the tenderness towards the lower end of the swelling (right around where my sinuses would be), she decided to check my ears as well. There was now swelling in my eustachian tubes, no infection yet, but with the swelling there and the swelling and tenderness near my cheek bone she explained that in some cases the sinus cavity will actually fill with mucous and thickened ick and then back fill into the tear duct area. With the swelling in my ear canals, she could tell that there was a lot of pressure in my sinus cavity. And, with the lack of redness in my eye, and odd way the swelling was shaped (down and up instead of around the actual eye), she could tell mine had done that. I was surprised. My regular NP had just looked at me not even 12 hours before the swelling had started. I asked the PA, if maybe we had missed something the day before. She then explained to me that not only does the lowered immune system cause me to catch things easier and often take them longer to get out of my system, but it also causes them to progress at a much faster pace as well. Duh, I’ve had this happen before. I just didn’t think I would still be this “fragile” this far out from Chemo. Doctors keep telling me that its the norm, but just wow! Still?!? My pre-infection wouldn’t have been visible even just a couple hours before the swelling appeared. So, no my NP and I hadn’t missed something the day before. She then prescribed a steroid drop to be used to bring the swelling down and then discontinued, with an antibiotic drop to fight off infection in that area to be used until the end of the regimen, and a nasal spray to soften up the gunk in my sinuses to be used twice a day for at least 15 days, and suggested that I go back to taking Allegra instead of the cold medicine seems the antihistamine in the Allegra is more powerful and effective at clearing the sinuses. She told me to continue taking the “real Sudafed” prescribed by my NP, and to give the NP a call Monday morning to update my records on my situation and what the new prescriptions were.
It took the eye a couple of days to get totally back to normal, but the nasal spray helped immensely, especially for sleeping overnight. My cold just seemed to disappear as the swelling disappeared. I still have the occasional “productive” cough, but other than that, I’m all good now. I managed to get through it without any new antibiotics either (that was plan B if the nasal spray/Allegra/Sudafed combo didn’t work).
This has been a not-so-gentle reminder of how vigilant I still need to be out in public. Washing my hands, using hand sanitizer, taking advantage of the wipes for the grocery cart, and then being more vigilant and choosy about the types of medicines I use to clear up any colds I do pick up (less expensive and combo meds aren’t necessarily the same as the “good stuff”). I am a bit wary to be out in public, but no where near the phobia-like feelings I was having last year at this time. So, please don’t be offended if I don’t “rub-shoulders” with you too much in the next few months. And, as I plead last year, please don’t come around me if you know you are sick. But, I am in no means going to hide away in my little hole. I have gotten my “at-risk” flu vaccine, even though it doesn’t cover ALL of the flus. I have hand sanitizer wipes and a bottle in my purse, and I know how to wash my hands.
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Now, all that being said. I did actually have a pretty good week, mood wise, and I would feel like a brat if I didn’t add this to my post today 11/5-
What I’m Thankful for this week 10/31-11/5 –
I got several hours of good health to casually walk around the neighborhood with my kiddos and some really good friends for our traditional trick-or-treating.
Good Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners that don’t make me feel like my concerns about a “common cold” are silly, and give me good advice and don’t over prescribe medicines to me.
A husband who pushes me to go ahead and go the doctor even though I think its nothing and it will just go away in a couple days.
A Heavenly Father who still puts people in my life that help me take care of myself.
Kiddos that remind me, “Don’t reach, Mommy” when I forget in a moment of habit.
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And today (11/6)…today I am almost 100%. I have thoroughly enjoyed an evening walk with my husband last night. I woke up almost all smiles with the boys this morning. I had enough energy that I didn’t have to fight the temptation to go back to bed after everyone else left for school and work. I took my time doing some things around the house. I made some phone calls, then turned on some music to cook to. I prepared food from scratch for my family!!!! And then, I sat down at the computer to finish the three blog posts I’ve been making notes on for these past couple of weeks. In a few minutes, my youngest will get off the school bus and he and I will wander to the grocery store to get some fresh veggies for lunches and dinners for the next week, while we wait for time to go pick up the older two boys from Academic Team practice. Today, life is sweet…a little chilly, but sweet 😉
And now seems it took me almost two weeks to get this post written, I want to add:
11/13/17
I am glad that I was back to 100% in time to care for William when he succumbed to the same horrible head cold. And even though he drove me nuts because he doesn’t slow down even when he’s sick, I’m glad I was able to enjoy the couple of days with him as he had to stay home from school.
I am thankful for kiddos that LOVE school, and for teachers that encourage them to do their best and to be themselves at the same time. Teachers that I am able to trust to teach them when I can’t do it myself at home. We have been truly best with a great group of teachers in our schools here in Lawrenceburg.
I am incredibly grateful for a wonderful weekend, with lots of good moments with our kiddos, a spur of the moment visit from our daughter “to help Daddy cut wood”, I am thankful that my husband CAN cut wood again, and I am thankful for the energy to get a lot of cleaning and to-dos done at home with the two little boys while they cut wood. It was a good weekend. And, I am also grateful that I had a down day today, to recuperate from the weekend, lol. Yeah, I still need that too!
I love my life and my family, I love that Heavenly Father knows me and knows what I need, what I need to do for others, and that EVERYTHING is possible through the Savior, Jesus Christ!