Happy Easter
Happy Easter Everyone. I sure hope you are all enjoying it with your loved ones close to you. It has been an eventfull couple of months for the Handy household. That “crud” I wrote about in February ended up attacking me with all it had. I would get better and think I had it licked when it would rear it’s ugly head and kick me in the backside. After a couple rounds of going up and down the doctor decided to send me get a cat scan of my head and asked an ear, nose, throat specialist to look at it. He found that I had a major sinus infection and sent me home with instructions to use a neti pot daily and yet another round of antibiotics. So after much encouragement from my friends on facebook, I bought a neti pot and started a routine. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t that hard and it certainly flushed out a good amount of infectious stuff. After a few days on this regimine, I started to feel better. I began to exercise a bit and prepared for a camping trip we had planned for my son’s 16th birthday. On the 13th of March we headed out on that trip with 3 quads, 3 motorcycles, 5 teenagers, and 6 adult friends. It was a lot of fun. I even got the guts up to get back on the motorcycle and ride like I didn’t have a care in the world. It was the first time I felt normal in a very long time. I truly thought I was back on the right track. However….Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible headache and a major case of stomach and intestinal issues. Michael took the lead and packed everything up while I sat on the sidelines nursing my symptoms. We had two vehicles there, so my son drove my truck while I sat in the passenger seat moaning. He did a great job and we made home early that afternoon. I went straight to bed and fell fast asleep. A few hours later, I woke up freezing. I gathered 2 down filled comforters, a wool lined quilt, a regular quilt and a bed blanket. An hour later, I was still cold. I knew what this meant and found the nearest thermometer to gauge the damage. I was allready up to 102. Crap!!!! So figuring it was just the sinus infection, I called my oncologist Monday morning and asked if I could get some IV antibiotics. He told me to come in Tuesday morning and he would get me back on track. The rest of Monday is a blur as I was in and out all day and very delirious. When I went to the office on Tue., he took one look at me and sent me off to the ER. I could have guessed this was going to happen. The dr.’s thought it was my infection causing the problem so they threw the best antibiotics at it. By Thursday, I was no better and my stomach was swelling fast so they ordered cultures from my stool and found that I had something called “CDIFF”. This is where the antibiotics have killed not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria in my intestinal track, leaving it vulnerable to parisites. So they changed the antibiotics and started me another regiman that would help replace the good bacteria. Meanwhile, I could not seem to eat. I was managing 1 to 2 saltine crackers a day and that was it. My stomach was still swealing so they did a colonoscopy and diagnosed me with a severe case of pseudomembraniouscolitis. In lamen terms that is just the swelling of the small and large intestines. By day 6 the CDIFF test was negative and the insurance company wanted me to go home. Nobody thought I was ready but you know who always wins when it’s insurance company vs. patient. So on day 7, I was discharged weighing 35 pounds heavier than day one and looking like I was going to give birth to twins at any moment. It was very painfull and I spent the next week sleeping and downing pain pills. Sitting was nearly impossible so once again, I became very close to my bed, getting up only to go to the bathroom or the dr. My friends that were new Moms brought me maternity clothes so I would have something to wear to my dr. appointments besides my husbands pajamas which was the only thing in the house that fit at the time. On April 2nd, they took me off the IV antibiotics and I started to heal pretty rapidly. I started losing approx. 5 pounds a day. Finally, by the end of week 3, I was back to normal size and feeling much better. Still a little yellow and weak from inactivity but a long way from the state I was in when I entered the hospital. Everyday has gotton a little bit better. I may wake up achy or with a slight headache but for the most part, stronger and healthier than the day before. I pray this continues. The moral of this story is……….when you’re on antibiotic, eat your yogurt! It turns out that this can happen to anyone who is on a prolonged regimine of antibiotics.The other major stresser last month was with my oldest son. Last week, I got a call from Austin asking for help because Brandon needed to go to the ER and didn’t want him to call an ambulance. Austin and Brandon were at their Dad’s for spring break. Brandon decided to take his Dad’s motorcycle and tool around the neighborhood after his Dad went to bed. He is usually very diligent at wearing a helment whenever he rides. But not this time. And low and behold, instead of tooling around the neighborhood, he decided to race around the neighborhood. In the dark! So, if you haven’t guessed by now…..he crashed. He is very lucky to be alive. He has 17 staples in his head and several stitches. He is cut up on almost every limb of his body. Even his toes as his shoes flew off. I swear, this kid has 9 lives as well. So now he is with me and recouping as I clean his wounds daily to try to prevent infection. But he is alive and not a vegteable so we are very thankfull and happy.Thanks to all of you who are still praying for my family daily. I know that without those prayers, these stories would not have happy endings. We owe you all so much.