Light at the End of the Tunnel

Thursday came and things seemed to be getting slightly better. I was no longer having severe chills and my fever seemed to finally drop. I felt like more of a person. I still didn't know what was wrong with me. The doctors had lots of possibilities but no answers. They took more vials of blood. I continued laying around all day in misery. The service at the hospital didn't help. For example, first thing in the morning:


This type of thing really, really, really annoys me. I hate when people talk to me more slowly or with some sort of accent because they think I can't understand English. Wake up! It's not only white people that speak English! You have Asian nurse colleagues. Don't you think they understand English?

While the fever seemed to be slowly getting better, I was still having coughing and asthma problems. I was finally able to switch over to Allegra instead of taking the Claritin from the hospital. We had to buy our own Allegra but it's fine since we use it anyway. Claritin has never really worked for me.


At least I was feeling well enough to be able to tweet about things other than being miserable in the hospital:


I really wanted an answer to what happened to me. But the doctors were never around and seemed not to have any clue. There was only one doctor that I liked - the infectious disease guy. He was willing to answer all of my questions to the extent he could and took the time to at least talk to me. The rest of them, it was just like stopping by to say they stopped by.

I was finally strong enough to take a shower that day. (Can I tell you how much fun it is to try to take a shower with an IV in one arm?) I also learned that they had left my shoes in the old room when they moved me out and moved in the person with TB who needed the quarantine room. Great, my sneakers were still in the room since they moved me out so carelessly, and now someone in there is really sick. Just what I needed. I couldn't carry anything more in my hands the night before and they told me they had everything else, but no, they didn't. Can't they do anything right? I know I'm complaining a lot about it but I just felt so sick that every little annoyance bothered me.

I still didn't have much of an appetite. Lunch was tuna salad with a vegetable gumbo soup, Italian blended vegetables (which I gave to my mom because they had a lot of broccoli and cauliflower) and chilled pears. I didn't eat much at all. It just wasn't appetizing and I didn't really feel that hungry. The fever might have been cooling but I still wasn't eating much yet.


The afternoon came and went. I rested when I could. It was nice to be able to nap in the middle of the day and not have to think about what time I needed to be up. That type of rest and freedom was welcome, but I wish that I could have that without being in the hospital! At some point they noticed I was really dehydrated and they were still pumping me full of saline in the IV... so finally, that IV was gone! Another good sign for leaving! Unfortunately I already knew I was staying overnight because the doctor told me he needed more blood for the test and they had already taken blood that day and would need to take it again in the morning. Oh well.

Dinner was chicken paella with steamed squash and the usual collection of side items. My fever had finally dropped below 100 for a prolonged period of time and my appetite was slowly coming back. I ate maybe 75% of dinner. That was a huge improvement for me and I could tell that I was recovering. Maybe the doctors didn't know what happened but the antibiotics plus allergy medicine was doing the trick. I couldn't believe my fever had been over 100 for over 4 days. That really took a toll on my body. I must have aged so much that week. I wasn't back to 100% yet, but at least things were better.


Even though things were looking up, I was still coughing, which felt like asthma to me. I asked them for Singulair, which had always worked in the past during the severe parts of allergy season, and they added it to my pill rotation that day. I had high hopes that it would help fix me.


That night, I finally got some real sleep for the first time since this whole debacle began over the weekend. So thankful for the little things.