Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Feeling of Impending Sneeze

I'm on vacation this week.  We can't take vacation at work in January, February or March, because of the new EMR training, so I figured I'd jump in and take a week off before I can't.  I sent an email to scheduling with the subject line "pick two days", as in pick two consecutive days and let me have them off.  As it was, I got the week.  And so it was that I figured I'd get some organizing done around here, cleaning, and get the garage set up so two cars can get in there.  All in all, having some relaxing days doing stuff that I enjoy.

And then Monday came.  Well, maybe it started on Sunday, when I drove to Vincennes to drop off a couple of chickens (that's a story for another day).  Got home about 8 or so and hit the sack early cause man, I was tired.  So I woke up Monday morning with a stuffy head.  Bleh. Couldn't straighten up very well.  Add to that that I was as tired as all get out and I just decided, what the heck, I'm on vacation, so I'm gonna go back to bed.  So I did.......until 3pm.  Oye vay.  When I got up at 3, I was still so stinkin tired that I just went back to bed again at 5 nnd slept through the night.

This went on for three days.  All in all, I think I was up for a total of maybe 8 hours, and ninety percent of that was spent sitting in bed with my laptop and a stack of patterns around me.  (Part of the goal of this week was to get mega patterns listed on the website.)  Geez Louise!  I've never slept that much in my life.  I had Sudafed, hot toddies (yum), Nyquil, and a big fat pillow to keep me company. Talk about the life of leisure!

But it's the kind of sickness that makes me nutty:  no fever, just a stuffy nose and congestion (dontcha hate that?), really achy joints and extreme, extreme, extreme fatigue.  Heck, I'd have thought mono, except I didn't have a sore throat or swollen glands.  Finally, I talked to my old boss on Facebook, and she reminded me that an RA flare can do this.  BINGO!  I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis earlier this year and although I've had flares of joint pain, I had totally missed the fatigue part.  I followed her recommendations -- stay in bed, lots of Vitamin C, and eat well, and in two to three days it should be better -- and finally today, day four of vacation, I got things accomplished.  Fortunately, it never sunk into my chest, though my asthma disappeared once they realized what had caused it -- latent TB that bought me a year of treatment.  Yeah, it's been a weird year, but I got answers to problems that have plagued me for a long time, so no more joint aches (most days), no more hacking up a lung, and at least knowing how to head it off once it starts.  Knowing the plan of attack is half the battle, yes?

So today, Thomas and I ran around dropping off stuff that I've cleaned out of closets at the DAV, consignment stores, and the like.  I cleaned up part of the garage, thanks to The Heir.  And I even got to spend some time with the girls (as in chickens.  Dinner with The Girls is next week.)  I finally feel productive, though the nose is still running and congested (still hate that), and I have a near constant feeling of an impending sneeze (hate that more that never seems to follow through.  I even got to see my boo tonight -- and he reminded me that I got sick the last time I took vacation, too.  

Hmmmmm...........maybe I need to rethink the whole vacation thing.