Recovering from Pneumonia // a wellness update

I didn't realize how sick I was when I found myself sleeping all day on a Sunday two weeks ago. Having now just recovered from the worst sickness I've experienced thus far in my adult life, I can tell you taking my health for granted is now something I have a new perspective about! But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me back up and tell this tale from the beginning.

Wednesday, April 24th we took a quick trip into Oklahoma City for a Super Target jaunt and Jack-N-the-Box birthday tacos for a belated birthday lunch for Brian (we know how to celebrate lol) On the way back home I started to feel car sick so I took a nap and didn't think much about it once we got home. Thursday I woke up with that sick mouth vitamin taste and some post nasal dripping. By Saturday I was feeling super exhausted. When I woke up on Sunday I had developed a barking cough and it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. We stayed home from church and I literally slept on the couch all day. That afternoon Brian took my temp and it was at 104. I couldn't eat, barely drank water and was useless.

Two more days of fever and all day sleeping found us at a Mercy Convenient Care having an Influenza Type A and B test (both negative) and a Strep test just in case it had come back, but which also came back negative. We were told to come back in a couple of days if I was still feeling ill.

Guess what? Thursday we went back because I still had a temp of 103.4 and this time I had my blood drawn (came back showing no abnormalities) a chest x-ray and a urine sample which showed white blood cells suggesting a bacterial infection. The x-ray was the real winner- it showed pneumonia which incidentally looks like cotton batting stretched inside the lungs. To combat both the kidney infection and pneumonia I was given an antibiotic shot and a heavy-duty antibiotic.

Sadly, I was just not feeling better; the high temps were still lingering, I was still only sleeping the days and nights away and Brian was having to take time off from work to care for EVERYTHING. He was mom, dad, maid, nanny and chauffeur and I'm pretty sure he deserves a medal or trophy or something.

Monday, May 6th we went back to Mercy and had another x-ray done but this time I had to be wheeled around in a wheelchair because I was so fatigued. The pneumonia had spread so I was given a steroid shot and a first line defense antibiotic just for pneumonia because upon further urine analysis I wasn't in need of kidney treatment (the white blood cells were present because the lack of appetite was causing ketosis- I'm not exactly 100% clear on all of this because I was s-i-c-k but this is what I remember.)

Tuesday I woke up feeling like I had some extra energy to spare and I was beginning to feel like myself. Even though I still had to take naps, my wakeful times were getting longer. And then that night after a particularly fitful coughing session my top lip began to tingle and felt strange. In the grand scheme of things I didn't even put any thought to it until the morning when Brian asked how I was and I brought up my lip. I never saw Brian's eyes get so big.

Upon looking into the mirror I realized just how crazy my swollen lip looked, it was like a botched Botox job. After calling the doctor and explaining the situation (an allergic reaction to the second antibiotic) we got to take a trip to the ER.

I was admitted, hooked up to a heart monitor and given a Benadryl shot and pepcid pill combo to combat the allergic reaction. Let me tell you, it worked like *that* I could feel the medicine flood my body and it made me extremely tired. We were only in the ER for maybe thirty minutes but I was all warm and sleepy and armed with a prescription for a Z-pack (my third antibiotic) and I slept the rest of the day away.

That evening I took my first two Z -pack pills and a Benadryl and prayed this was the magic combination to wellness. I was sick of being sick, missing out on my children's lives and just disconnected from everything. I never felt so helpless. I am so thankful to Aunt Cindy and cousin Claudia for also helping with caring for the kids and bringing dinner for us almost every night. It seriously takes a Village and we are blessed with a great one.

I took my last Z-pack pill on Sunday and was able to make pancakes from scratch for Saturday breakfast. I haven't had to nap. I've been able to do laundry, drive my car and been able to carry, cuddle and play with my babes again. Life is finally back on track. The cough still lingers and my sciatica flare up throughout the day from disuse but these are seriously trivial things. Praise be to God because I never would have been able to get through this without His strength and love.