From my throat to my hinny: The complete story

Are you intrigued, or just frightened? I promise it's not gruesome, just really really long.

We have been really lucky so far as a family that none of us get sick very often. The kids get the usual runny noses in the winter and maybe one of them will get the flu, but that is just about it. Not this month though, this month has been a doosy.

So I already mentioned that right before the Daddy daughter dance that Josh had strep. Then he and I both got the flu, and then I got strep. It was a pretty miserable couple of weeks, but we survived and moved on. Then, last week while Josh was away he told me that his throat started hurting again. He had on of the ER Docs check it out and they said this time it was just a virus, so he had to suffer through it all week and simply let it run its course.

When Saturday rolled around I could tell I was getting sick again. By Sunday the left side of my throat was completely swollen and sore and my body ached horrible. I spent the whole day on the couch and diagnosed myself with another case of strep. Josh stayed home from the hospital on Monday to take care of me and I once again spent the whole day on the couch. I was feeling slightly better by Monday night though so I was extremely hopeful that Tuesday was going to be a better day.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, the left side of my throat did feel completely better, only now the right side of my throat was swollen and the aches and chills had started all over again. I called the Dr.'s office but they couldn't get me in until late Wed. afternoon. So in order to survive on Tuesday I told James that he could stay home from school and play the Wii all day, as long as every 25 minutes he would walk over to the computer and hit next episode for Macy who was watching Dora episodes on netflix. It took him a few episodes of me coming out to threaten to turn off the Wii before he finally figured it out, but after that it was bliss. I slept in bed and the kids were in electronic heaven.

I felt some relief from pain medication and sleeping all day, but by bed time I was in such miserable shape that when Macy begged me to let her wear her swim suit and new pink shoes to bed I didn't argue one little bit.



Then Samm and James asked if they could sleep in the closet and there was no argument there either.

It really can't be comfortable, but the love to do it anyway.

I finally crawled into bed myself only to be jerked awake at midnight by a really loud noise. I'm pretty sure it came from one of James' walki talkies, and I'm pretty sure it was in Macy's bedroom because she bolted out of her room as fast as she could completely confused and scared. I didn't have the energy or strength to comfort her and get her settled again in her own bed, so I just scooted over and let her climb in bed with me. I forgot though why I never let her sleep with us. She has the hardest time falling asleep anywhere other than her own bed and for 30 minutes she tossed and turned every five seconds. Finally I got her a drink, changed her diaper, and convinced her to let me take the pink shoes off. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep after all of that, but then I learned something about Macy. That girl can saw some logs in her sleep. And oh the misery. I can't deal with snoring. I tried. I really tried. But by 2:00 I had to get up anyway for more pain medication so I carried her into her own bed to snore away in peace.

In the hallway, I was fumbling for some chloriseptic throat spray so I could force down some pills when Samm's voice floated out of the closet. "mom, or whoever you are?"

I managed to croak out something like "yes hunny it's me." I was a little disturbed though that she seemed completely fine with me being a whoever. Anyway, she was cold, so I got her some pajama pants to put on under her nightgown and then finally made it to the kitchen to choke on some pain pills that really didn't do much good.

On Wednesday morning I was in so much pain that I couldn't even talk. Have you ever tried to communicate with you kids without talking? I wrote notes for Samm and did hand gestures for James, but that kid just does not pick up on stuff quickly so I ended up writing notes to Samm to tell James what to do. Then I laid back down with the same Wii instructions for James as the day before. Wednesday afternoon I could talk a little bit again but I was so exhausted that I canceled my Dr's appointment. I didn't think I would be able to make it all the way there before passing out. So Macy and I napped instead.

At 4:00 the older kids came home from school and Samm came running into my bedroom to show me her brand new harmonica! I asked her over and over to please not blow on it, but I think it had magical power over her and she just couldn't help herself. I really wanted to smash it and throw it away, but then I would have to deal with her drama and I wasn't sure what was worse.

By 6:00 I sent Josh a text "can tonsils rupture?"

He had never heard of it but was of course concerned and wanted to know why I was asking. I told him that the pain had gotten worse and now there was also a sharp stabbing pain. Basically it felt like I was swallowing a golf ball covered in razor blades every time I had to swallow anything, which is why I hadn't eaten in days.

He told me to go to the ER. I didn't want to have to ask anyone to watch all 3 kids for me knowing it would be late before I got back, but by 6:30 I was in tears and praying for relief and I knew what I needed to do. So I swallowed my pride, which was excruciatingly painful, and sent my friend Lisa a text. She was of course willing to help in anyway, so within 15 minutes I had the kids in pajamas and out the door.

Luckily the ER wasn't very full and I only had to wait about 15 minutes before they took me back. Of course they wanted to ask me all kinds of questions and since I couldn't really talk it was pretty difficult to give my answers. I got everything sorted out with the triage lady though and she took me back to the fast track area which is basically a bunch of curtained off beds for people who aren't really there for an "emergency. " The nurses and a P.A are the ones who take care of everyone back there. I didn't care though as long as someone took the pain away.

It took a while for the nurse to come in so I sat and listened. The kid next to me had a horrible sore throat as well. They were going to give him some pain medication and order a flu test, so I kind of figured that's what was in store for me. Finally, the nurse came in though and made me cry when she pried open my mouth. She told me someone was going to come in and give me some pills to take and then left. Then I heard her tell someone else, I think she has a perinotonsil (or something like that) abscess. The other lady said "eew!" Do they not know we can hear them!

I texted Josh "what is an abscess." He replied " a puss pocket. They will either drain it or leave it, but you'll get antibiotics either way."

I was praying really hard that they would just leave it. Then a lady came in with a bunch of pills for me to take and a nice big needle. I almost had a panic attack but then the nice lady quickly informed me that the needle was not for draining puss, it was just for a shot. In my bottom!

Oh dear, I hate needles. So I gave myself a little pep talk. It was just a shot, and I am a big girl. No need to get worked up over it. And, in the end even though it was pretty painful, I've had worse.

The guy next to me had to get a shot in his bum too, but he was cocky and said to the nurse when it was over "so when does it start hurting?" I really hope his cheek is just as sore as mine today.

So once all that was over I figured they would just send me home, but instead I waited and waited and waited. Then I overheard the nurses whispering about something. I could tell they were discussing the Dr and were worried that if they didn't do the right thing that he would be mad. Sounds like a nice guy to work with don't you think? Then I heard them say something about the tonsil girl so I knew they were talking about me. I guess in the end they decided it was best if the Dr himself looked at me because eventually he came in. He asked me if I had been around anyone with strep lately and I told him "yes, my husband had it several weeks ago." Then he told me that they were going to wait and see if the antibiotics would do their job, but if not they would either have to stick a needle in my throat to drain the abscess or lance it with a knife. Um, neither, thank you,

OK wow, if you've made it this far in my very long novel, I am really impressed! Basically after waiting forever again, the results came back negative for strep, but they still sent me home with a bunch of prescriptions to fill. And, as I was pulling out of the parking lot, guess who pulled in? My hubby. He drove all the way home so that he could take care of me! And he is doing a fantastic job. I'm feeling a ton better today even though it still hurts some to swallow, but I'm hopeful that no knives will be going anywhere near my throat.