Swine Flu Survivor

I am of the belief that everyone who survives the Swine Flu should receive a Metal of Honor...or at least a Certificate of Achievement. I am proud to announce that Caedmon and I have valiently battled the H1N1 enemy and have emerged victorious. Though we still have lingering symptoms of a cough and congestion, we are fever free for the first time in 4 days. But let me tell you, it was a long time coming! I haven't been that sick since childhood when my mom was there to care for me. This time, not only was there no Mom to care for me, Andy was out of town and I was the "Mom" taking care of my own sick child.

We had all the typical symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, ear ache, nausea, etc. But Caedmon had a strange symptom where his eyes swoll up really big. I took a picture of it to document it in case I needed to show the doctor. Please note that Caedmon is not smiling in these pictures because he is happy. He was crying right before I took the pictures but was smiling in the picture because he didn't want me to take the pics and was trying to get away from me.

The doctor said that his eyes were swollen as a result of the virus and just to give him Benadryl. The swelling came down within 24 hours, but then came back again yesterday. I guess it will just take time to run its course.

My all time low came on Friday afternoon when my temperature spiked to 103.8. I think my temperature went so high because I used every ounce of energy I had to take Caedmon to the doctor that morning and my body didn't have anything left to fight the virus. Caedmon and I were both napping and I woke up feeling absolutely horrible. When I took my temperature and realized how high it was, I got a little scared. I don't know a whole lot about medical stuff...just enough to know that 103.8 is a really high fever for an adult and bad things could start to happen if it went much higher. Knowing that I was home alone with Caedmon made it all the more scary for me. I started thinking things like, "What if I pass out or go into shock and no one is here to take care of Caedmon?" He was sleeping peacefully in his room so I just left him in there. I drank a bunch of fluid, took some more medicine and my fever started to slowly come down.

Thankfully, Andy got home that night. When he walked in the house he said, "It smells bad in here!" Needless to say, Andy has never come home to such a disgusting house. There were dirty dishes and cups every where,  medicine and thermometers scattered about, DVDs all over the floor, dirty clothes, blankets, pillows, etc... Not exactly the type of homecoming I like to give Andy. I told Andy, "As you can see, we didn't make progress or even maintain around here while you were gone. It took all the energy we had just to survive." He said, "Well, I'm glad you did that!" and he graciously got to work straightening up the house and caring for us.

While it was really difficult having Andy out of town, I felt so loved and supported by our friends out here. I want to thank Lina, Cindy, and the Santos family for bringing over food, medicine, smoothies, and DVDs for us. And thank you to everyone else who offered to help or prayed for us. I'm not sure what we would have done without you!

My sleepy boys.