A New Day

I woke up on Tuesday morning at 6:30. After that, I got a grand total of about six hours of sleep before 11:00 last night, and had one traumatic trip to the Emergency Room in all that fun.

Needless to say, my state of mind when I wrote yesterday's blog post was exhausted.

Today, however, is a new day. After going to Walmart yesterday to pick up my prescriptions (a five-day program of azithromicin, an antibiotic and a couple of just-in-case inhalers of albuterol sulfate), I stopped at 7-Eleven and bought the largest size blue raspberry Slurpee I could. By this time, I had a massive headache, my eyes were still swollen from the various crying jags I'd had through the previous night and day, and I was feeling like something the cat dragged home.

I took some ibuprofen for the headache and sat down at the computer to read my emails and drink my Slurpee. Mom and Dad had received my email.

A sample of mine to them:

I'm going to try my very best to figure out something on my own before running to you guys for help, so I DON'T WANT YOU WORRYING ABOUT THIS!! I know you, and I hesitated to email you about any of this for a few days because I will feel terrible if this mars your enjoyment of your trip. Please, don't let it.

The bottom line is I'm fine, and I have the meds I need to get better. I can breathe. I was so scared--my chest was so clogged up I just couldn't get enough air in.

Dad's reply:

Sounds like you've got things under control; however, we will still worry about you.

I wasn't at all surprised when my cell phone rang a little after 5:00, with "DAD" across the screen. I reassured them that I'm fine, and I think they are satisfied that I'm going to be okay. They both said I absolutely did the right thing going to the hospital.

I had planned on making myself stay awake until 8:00 or so, but my headache and exhaustion pulled me into bed at 6:00. I crawled under the covers and was immediately joined by Millie and Harley. Millie got under the covers and curled up next to my stomach. Harley plopped down on the pillow next to my face (I was lying on my side). Both had low, gentle rumbles going on and the whole thing was marvelous. You'll never convince me that animals don't have some sort of intuition when it comes to their people. My cats seemed to know I just needed quiet cuddles.

I slept for two hours, waking up just before 8:00. I thought about America's Next Top Model and thought I'd like to watch it, so I got up. I was up for another few hours, and even though I knew I'd certainly get yelled at if anyone knew, I scooped the litter boxes (they smelled bad!) and vacuumed a couple of rooms that had been vomited in (all four cats vomited yesterday, so no Tuna Time last night!). At 11:00, I fell back into bed and there I stayed until close to 8:00 this morning.

I've had today's dose of antibiotic and I took a couple puffs of the inhaler, as I could feel my congestion coming back a little bit. I must say that after such a good night's sleep I feel a lot better. Still, my biggest plan for today is to have a mini-spa here at home. I'm going to do my favorite face mask, shave my legs (it's been a few days) and just pamper myself a little bit before settling on the couch this afternoon with my book and/or a movie.

One more time, I have to shout out to my friends for being so awesome and caring; in particular Maayan, who called from New York while I was sitting in Walmart waiting for my prescriptions (I walked around the store once and then collapsed on a bench in front of the pharmacy in total exhaustion). And Meghan, the RN, who is already offering advice about paying and admonishing me for going to the ER alone. Mustn't forget Dianne from Chorale, who told me I should have called her, as she would have come with me. I'm blessed with wonderful friends. Don't think I don't know that!

So I find myself feeling much better today, and yes, I'm still able to breathe! I will need a few days before I'm back to my gym rat self (Gershom is going to give me terrible stink-eye, I just know it), but I'm well on the road to recovery now and I'm thankful for my overall good health.