"Is that my throat feeling sore?" "Wait, I think I feel feverish..."

Well, once again I've been sidelined by some unexpected complications :) As well, Henry's medical situation intensifies a bit.

It all started Wednesday afternoon, shortly after I blogged. I noticed that my mouth felt "funny." That's a really tactful way of saying I really, *really* wished that I had my toothbrush with me or at least a mint. It just didn't feel right. But I didn't think much of it. I just sipped some water. A few hours later, I noticed that my throat hurt a bit. One would have thought that I would have started putting the pieces together at this point. One would have thought.

I continued plugging away until I noticed that I felt a tad lightheaded. In fact, I felt downright woozy. Still, I resisted admitting that something was wrong until I started to feel feverish and like I couldn't sit up very comfortably. This made me very unhappy, but I certainly didn't want it to get worse and then have a hard time driving myself home. So I packed myself up quite abruptly and left.

I got home and climbed right into bed, a bewildered Mike trailing behind me. I asked if he would make me some tea, which he did, and that helped at least a smidge. After an hour of resting or so, Hank was home, and was diverting into our bedroom, wanting to make dinner with me.

Clad in comfy jammies, I made my way downstairs, and was fine for the first 5 minutes. Then I noticed that woozy thing again, and simply had to sit down, lest I topple over. I had a few more failed standing attempts before I admitted defeat and let Mike cook dinner. Surprisingly, I felt hungry, and ate pretty ravenously, without any ill after effects.

The next morning, we had to be up early to head to an appointment with Hank's allergist. *sighs* We haven't had to see the allergist in years, and I was hoping that we were past that health concern with Hank. He was hospitalized for Bronchiolitis as an infant, and was subsequently diagnosed with asthma, but I felt assured that chances were good that he'd grow out of it. After that initial distress, he seemed to improve steadily, and the past few years, seemed back to normal. Then came this allergy season.

Suddenly, Hank is coughing every day for a month, and worst of all, began to wheeze. I knew it was back to allergy-land for us, and so we set up the appointment. He did great, submitting to all the skin tests like a champ. Diagnosis: he has asthma :( He has not outgrown it. As well, he is highly allergic to dogs, cats (no pets for us :( ) and dust/dust mites. As I'm sure you can imagine, it's pretty hard to avoid dust. So, the doctor recommended that we get him a special cover for his mattress from the National Allergy Center (I ordered it right away) and that we get him an inhaler. We can use the inhaler for a quick remedy when he's wheezing, and also for administration of an inhaled steroid that will heal his airways and reduce or stop his coughing.

I'm a bit anxious about the steroid, but I know that right now he needs it. His coughing is really bad, and it's continuous. We're going back in 6 weeks, and the doctor will evaluate at that point whether or not he still needs the steroid.

So, after that marathon, I dropped Hank at school and then waited at the pharmacy for his inhaler to be ready. By this point, it was only about 10:30 am, yet I was completely exhausted. I called into work and let them know I was taking a sick day. I stopped off at the grocery store and picked up some soup, and a vegetable bagel with butter. Then I headed home to rest.

The events that transpired next I remember with much clarity and joy. I popped open my soup and ate up a spoonful. It was homemade Hungarian Mushroom soup, made with real cream and sherry.

*dies*

*goes to heaven*

It was SO GOOD, that even a day later I'm still worshipping it's very existence. OH.MY. I ate 2 bowls, and dipped my bagel in and was one very, very happy girl. Then I did what I've always dreamed of:

I opened our DVD cabinet. I selected The Golden Girls, Season 7. I put in disc 1, and then do you know what I did? I pressed "PLAY ALL". And then I curled up under an afghan and watched The Golden Girls while napping on and off for about 2 and a half straight hours. I tell you, I was so drunk with delirious power I could hardly contain myself. It was supremely WONDERFUL.

By later afternoon, I felt a tad better. I got up, and even tornadoed around the house a bit, cleaning, since Hank wasn't there to immediately make a mess right where I'd cleaned. I knew at that point that I was definitely feeling somewhat better.

This morning, I awoke and no longer felt woozy. But I'm still not 100%. I still feel a bit weak, and the nausea is just completely out of control, although that isn't related to the flu bug that I had. That would be Baby CL. And unfortunately, that has intensified into a Morning/Noon/Night sickness. I can barely even knit in the evenings. Just looking at that half-finished sock makes me want to hurl. This is unprecedented.

On my way through the kitchen this morning as I made lunches, I came across a bag of organic vegetables that my mom had given me. I noticed that one of the red bell peppers had gone bad. I picked it up to throw it away, and I tell you, the goo that resulted from this process made me flat out dry heave right then and there. Even thinking about it now is making me gag a bit. I like knowing that Baby CL is bright eyed and bushy tailed in there, but I long to feel normal again. I know, I know, that won't happen for approximately 6 and a half more months :) I'll get there.