Sick Season is Here

I called my mother this morning to see if she could come watch the children if I needed to head to the doctor. She, of course, said she would, and then she reminded me to blog. Mothers are great reminderers, aren’t they?

Despite the illnesses swirling around our house, I’m feeling pretty good today. Gideon contracted the flu, even with a flu shot, Scarlett has impetigo all over her nose and way up deep in it (and totally comes apart when I stick the medicated q-tip up inside), and we’re still treating Gideon’s fungus (ringworm). I’m so glad I took Gideon to the doctor, too, in a last minute decision…else his flu would have gotten worse before it got better. They caught it early.

I spent part of the morning spraying Lysol all over the toys and on all the doorknobs. The children’s pediatrician, who we absolutely LOVE (and it’s never a problem to get the children to the doctor because they get so excited to see him), suggested it would also be a good idea for me to take Tamiflu as a preventative action. So, pray the germs away!

So far, this is the first sickness in our house this cold/winter season. What a change from previous years. Winters were horrible. We all stayed in a perpetual state of illness. There was the year I got mastitis twice when Scarlett was born, and staph infection twice, and then I came out with dyshidrotic eczema (bubble type all over my hands – thought I had poison ivy, but no). I think that was the year that we were in and out of doctor’s offices between 6 and 8 weeks straight.

I’ve still been struggling with nausea, vomiting, and dehydration (as well as the ever present diarrhea). I finished the growth hormone, found out I was approved for another round in 6-12 months, but in the meantime we’re just to watch my labs (from bloodwork every other week) to see if I’m retaining much fluid. Obviously, with the dehydration issues, I’m not retaining hardly anything. I’ve dropped 6 pounds, which isn’t good, and I’ve had Jeff pick up a huge bag of Sonic ice so I can crunch those little cubes throughout the day. I can’t even drink water when taking my pills without running to have diarrhea.

In happy news, Jeff is taking two leveling classes at the seminary while we continue to wait on his government prison chaplaincy job. I am going to attempt to audit a class at my alma mater, Dallas Baptist University. The class is on “Disability and Suffering” and DBU (a great place to send your children by the way) provided a scholarship for me to take it. I’m so excited and have already planned to sit in the back in case I have to run out to the bathroom. The ability to take this class and learn as much as I can about my new status (I have just been officially declared disabled) is such a huge gift for which I am so thankful. I was even told to come when I can and if I have some bad days and can’t make it, that’s okay. And, I’ve certainly been having some bad days lately!

Anyway, please do continue to keep our family in your prayers as we struggle through sick season. Praying you stay healthy, too.