Merry Christmas, Goodbye 2013, and Hello 2014.
Yeah, so I clearly did not mean to go over a month without blogging. Or, not waxing poetic about how much I love Christmas. Or, not talking about how excited I was about my massive family being all together. Or, not letting you know how much fun we were having.
I clearly didn't mean to not wish you all a Merry Christmas. Or, not reflect on 2013. Or, not look forward to what 2014 has to bring.
I didn't mean for it, but it happened. Here's why....
Monday, Dec 9th - I went to work as normal and went about my day. Basically, I was fine. At 5:24pm, my boss closed his office door and waved good-bye. I remember, because I looked at the clock and was surprised by how late it had gotten. Sometime between then and about 5:40, I started getting this odd and intense pain in my abdomen. At first, I thought it was a weird gas pain or something. My coworker/friend M came in to chat and I stood up, thinking that would help work it through. However, the pain quickly became worse and I could barely focus on what M was saying.
Immediately after she left, I quickly grabbed what I could and left. I almost didn't make it to my car without passing out. After sitting in my car for a few minutes to try to regain my bearings, I grabbed my keys and phone and headed back inside. Again, I barely made it to my destination without passing out. The pain was HORRIBLE and I thought I was going to be sick.
Thankfully, things started to fall into place.... Both my mom and Heidi were on their way to get me. A coworker (who I scared to death when she found me in the hall, curled up in a ball) sat with me until they got there. My mom and stepdad took me to the ER where I underwent test after test for about six hours.
Diagnosis - Ruptured Ovarian Cyst.... Went home with pain meds and orders to follow-up with my GYN
Tuesday, Dec 10th - After barely being able to walk all day (not that I was going very far from the couch to the bathroom and back) and basically rotating between being in horrible pain and knocked out from the pain meds, my abdomen began swelling and I developed a fever. Back to the ER I went.... More tests. ANOTHER CT Scan (with contrast, which pissed off the ER nurse as I had been given contrast 24 hours before).
Diagnosis - Ruptured Ovarian Cyst (from the day before) and a Bladder Infection.... Went home around 2am with antibiotics to go along with the pain meds.
Wednesday, Dec 11th - In bed all day.
Thursday, Dec 12th - Feeling marginally better. GYN visit, where after reviewing everything from both ER visits and examining me, the Dr decides that he doesn't think it was a cyst.
"It doesn't make sense." - He thinks it might have been a flare up from my appendix and the meds they had me on was killing any infection.
Well, that's just great.
Friday, Dec 13th - Feeling A LOT better. *Almost* back to normal, except that I developed a cough overnight. It gets worse throughout the day. About 4pm, I'm shivering uncontrollably, cannot get warm, and apparently have a fever.
I refused to go back to the ER, so my mom takes me to Urgent Care. When I arrive, my temp is 103.2. More tests. More bloodwork. A chest X-Ray. About 45 minutes of letting me sleep in a back procedure room while they are waiting for everything to come back.
Diagnosis - A respiratory infection which the Dr thinks I probably got from one of my ER visits. Effing Fantastic. Since I was already on stronger antibiotics than he would have prescribed for a respiratory infection, he sends me home with orders to come back in 24 hours to make sure I haven't gotten any worse. He also says to take OTC meds in between my pain meds to help keep the fever down.
Saturday, Dec 14th - Still not well, but totally better than the evening before thanks to the meds. Go back to see the Urgent Care Dr. He congratulates me on my upswing and refers me for a follow-up in a couple of weeks.
Monday, Dec 16th - My Uncle Bobby arrives in town.
Tuesday- Dec 15th - Go back to work, even though everyone there tells me that I sound and look like death.
Wednesday, Dec 17th - Still sound and look bad.... Still go to work.... My cousin Ben and his wife Terra arrive in town.
Cough and generally feel crappy until after Christmas, but go along with all the plans we'd made for our visitors.
Monday, Jan 6th - Ben and Terra leave to go home.
Tuesday, Jan 7th - Uncle Bobby and Aunt Deb (who got in on Christmas Eve) leave to go home. Jess returns to her blog.
I did have fun over Christmas, New Years, and their visits, in general (which I hope to document here). I was on vacation from the 21st until the 2nd, so I got to have fun and recover.
Here's hoping I will be able to blog more frequently and stay well in 2014!
