Spring Is Coming

Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I've blogged, but there are a few things to share, so here goes.... First of all, I am feeling MUCH better now! I've been back to work and school for a week now and am completely over the flu/stomach thing I had going on. I am so thankful to be able to eat food again and to feel hungry, and I am enjoying being able to eat ice cream again. :) I did find out that my sinus cavity is still infected, so the antibiotic to try to clear up the infection did not work. I will be seeing an ENT to see what the next step is, but at this point it is expected that they will want me to have surgery to clean out the infection. Not sure if/when that will happen, but we'll see!

In other news, spring has sprung here in Florida! We have blooms everywhere, and it's so beautiful. I love spring. It's a little different here because it's green pretty much all year and it seems like something is always in bloom, but there is still that bursting to life of flowers and trees, and I love it. I love that God gives us spring to remind us that new life always springs forth from death and that sometimes when we least expect it, we will bloom again. I was going to try to take some pictures today when I got home, but my camera battery was dead, so you'll have to be okay with pictures from my phone. Here are a few examples of what I'm getting to see right now...



Another way that I know spring is arriving is because SPRING TRAINING HAS BEGUN!!!!! Hooray for baseball season not being too far away! And yes, I will be going to a few spring training games. What's the fun of living in the same place where the Braves train if you don't take in a few games? Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures! :)

This blog could not be complete without a quick picture of my fabulous cat. I've mentioned before on my blog that my cat has her own pillow on my bed that she sleeps on. Think what you will, but it's better that than her trying to curl around my head and sleep on mine while she snacks on my hair. This is a much better solution for us all! Plus, she's so adorable....how can you not smile if you wake up to this?? :)

I will try to post again soon and fill you in on school and what's happening there. For now, I must go get some homework done, eat my yummy dinner of sweet potatoes, squash casserole and chicken tenders cooked in hawaiian marinade, and hopefully sleep some before a very long day tomorrow. Hope each of you is doing well, and as the earth begins to come to life wherever you are, you are reminded of God's faithfulness and how much He loves us!

Sickness Update

I ate 6 chicken nuggets and a few french fries for lunch today. Before this past week, that would not have been a monumental event. Now it is! I have been so ridiculously sick, and I thought writing a quick blog update would be the best way to keep everyone informed.

I got sick last Thursday, with a confirmed positive test for Influenza A. That was bad enough by itself. Prior to getting sick, however, I had been on an antibiotic for a month to try to clear up my impacted sinus cavity. I have always been very drug sensitive, and combining finishing a month long antibiotic, getting the flu, and coughing without stopping for four straight days became the perfect storm for my stomach to rebel. Beginning on the evening of my birthday, I got so nauseous, I could not eat or drink hardly anything. That lasted until Wednesday, when I went back to the doctor for help. I was pretty dehydrated by that point and was a little afraid they were going to put me in the hospital, but they let me try to rehydrate myself. I was given anti-nausea medication that took care of the nausea enough that I could begin to drink and eat again. I am still taking that once a day to keep the nausea at bay and to allow myself to be able to keep eating and drinking.

So what's going on? Essentially, it is believed that being on the antibiotic for a month destroyed my stomach, killing the good bacteria. There is concern that I have a bacteria in my intestines that takes over when the good bacteria goes away. So I have had lab tests run and should get those results back on Monday. If that is what is going on, it's an easy fix of taking medicine to get rid of that. I should feel better very quickly after that happens. But for now I have to wait until Monday to find out, so I'm just taking it easy and trying to continue eating and drinking. I am still quite weak and don't have a lot of energy, but I am hanging in there. I have missed work for over a week now and missed classes this past week, so that's pretty stressful, but it could not be helped. I'm hoping I'll get some answers Monday and feel better fast and be able to jump back into the swing of things next week.

My mom came back down yesterday to be with me since Nikki is back at work. It's helpful to have someone here because I haven't been able to drive myself anywhere. She will be here for a few days to take care of me until I'm back on my feet, and I'm grateful to have her around!

I'll keep you posted on what I find out, but continued prayers are appreciated. This has been a really tough week, and it's helped remind me how much we take for granted. We don't think about eating or drinking - we just do it. But when you can't or you feel sick all the time, you realize what a blessing it is to eat and to feel hungry and to have no trouble digesting food. I am looking forward to enjoying my food with more thanksgiving as I am able to eat more and more in the coming days. I can't wait to have some ice cream! :) More to come soon...