My body felt the need to tell me I was trying to do too many things these last couple of weeks of summer and I got the worst case of strep throat EVER! Today, I am finally turning the corner and feeling much better, not totally better but a lot better than I was. The day I took Madison to The Tortoise Versus the Hare I started feeling a little tired and achy in the afternoon. I tried to ignore it and we went and had fun but by the time the evening was over I knew I was really getting sick. I had a bad nights sleep and woke up the next day barely able to swallow. It got worse that day and night combined with fever, chills, aches, nausea, pains and the most ferocious headache I think I have ever had. The sore throat was like nothing I've ever experienced. I almost couldn't breath, I felt like my airway was 95% blocked off and forget about food. Even water, soup and ice cream hurt so bad because it required swallowing which was my most dreaded task for the past few days. I normally don't go to the doctor when I'm sick. I suspected strep throat a while back when I got sick but I didn't go because it can go away on it's own and I've kind of had a long streak of avoiding antibiotics since I had Kennedy so I didn't want to break my streak. This time was different and I waited, staring at the clock until 9:00 when I could have Eric call to get me in (I couldn't talk well enough to call myself). I got in at 10:15. She asked me a few questions, took my temp (I had a fever) and then took a look in my throat. I saw a somewhat shocked look on her face and she said that I had strep throat and there was no need for a strep test. She wrote me an Rx and I left. I couldn't help but wonder what she saw that was so shocking so that afternoon I took a look myself. Let me just give you all some advice...NEVER look in the back of your throat with a flashlight and tongue depressor (or craft stick as in my case) if you have strep throat. It was so disgusting! I don't want to gross anyone out but I had so many white pustules in the back of my throat all over the place. I almost gagged and turned off the flashlight wishing I could turn time backwards just 10 seconds. I'll never do that again. I could have handled it easily on someone else but to know these things were in my own throat was really gross to me. Let me just praise the powers of Penicillin for a moment!!! Yay for Penicillin!!
Breakfast this morning still hurt but it is so much better and I can actually get food down without nearly crying in pain. I haven't tried to eat lunch yet despite the growling I hear but I'm hoping it, too, will be okay.
This "little" setback has caused me to miss taking the girls up to White Rock Beach, two playdates with friends, a bus day and the Plover ride. I'm feeling better and could have done the lst two things but I've also got my state exam on Saturday for the Nursing Assistant Certification and I have been too sick to study so the rest of the week will have to provide some time for that. I'm SO glad Eric was home this week or I don't know what I would have done. I couldn't even get out of bed that first day. The girls don't seem to mind missing that stuff so that makes me feel better. We'll try to squeeze in a bus ride and the Plover sometime before school starts if we can. We also cancelled our camping trip for Labor Day Weekend. Weather isn't looking good so we'll do something fun that day instead. She is very excited to go get ice cream that day.
Although I was trying to squeeze the most out of summer that I could I feel a little relief to have opened up the whole week and not felt such pressure to be here or there at a certain time. There is still plenty of fun things coming our way, including a zoo trip, next week to look forward to.
I'm really nervous for my exam on Saturday. I had visions of keeping myself familiar with the procedures during the summer so I wouldn't have forgotten anything but my backpack hasn't opened until today. As with the whole program this just isn't my favorite stuff so getting through this last exam is going to be the biggest relief for me. I technically don't have to take it since it's only required at WCC and not at BTC but since my funding is gone at BTC (DANG!) I will likely apply to WCC once I finish my last few classes for the RN prerequisites. This seems like the longest school journey in history and I haven't even started the program yet. So many people ask me when I'll be done...ha, I haven't really even started. Taking one class at a time really draws it out but so far that is all I can manage. I could probably manage more after fall quarter once the girls are settled into routines and comfortable in school but I'll only have two classes left and one is a prerequisite for the other so I'll have to draw it out until the end of spring. Once those are done I will apply at WCC when I decide I want to start.
I won't be surprised if I don't pass the procedure part of the NAC exam though. If I don't I'll have to pay the money again to re-test. Even today I only studied the written test stuff. I need to work on that stuff the next couple of days but it's hard to read it without having the nursing lab and actual "patients" to practice on.
The day I started getting sick was also my 10 year wedding anniversary with Eric. I can't believe it's been that long. In less than one month from now it will have been a total of 18 years that we have been together. That seems crazy to me and it also makes me feel very old. Ten years is a big anniversary milestone but 18 years together is almost two decades, wow! It has not always been easy and it hasn't always been pretty but we have persevered through some of the most difficult things a family can go through and we're still standing. It might not be the romantic anniversary story other people have but it's ours and it's real. We are a family, we love each other and we're in it for the long haul even if I had a fever on our anniversary and Eric fell asleep on the couch. It doesn't get much more real than that.
That about covers the past few days. The next two days will involve trying to bring myself to study and prepare for my exam on Saturday which will be followed with dinner out with friends. Next week will involve some more fun activities then we'll celebrate my sweet Madison's 6th birthday. Eric might be taking a temporary job in Wenatchee that will last a few months or more. It puts us all in an awkward position because the pay isn't great (it will be about what he is getting on unemployment now) and it will be taking him away from his family (just as the girls are trying to adjust to school). On the other hand it will let him get off unemployment for a while and work. Work of any kind is hard to pass up so he likely won't but it's going to be a tough few months ahead. It's a good thing we've had all of this practice.
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