Mommy is not 100%

Hello all --- I’ve included a picture of what I felt like doing because of how I’ve been feeling for the last 2 weeks……..Let’s see, it all started on Wednesday, August 2nd with a MIGRANE that lasted for TWO HOURS (even with medication). I was crying I was hurting soooooo bad; then the migraine finally passed and became a regular old headache (normal, usually lasts a couple of days after a migraine; THIS TIME IT LAST FOR OVER A WEEK).

Thursday (3rd) morning I woke up with a sore throat, not bad, so I just figured this was all allergies. The weekend came and went and I was not any better, still thinking is ALLERGIES (silly me) I wait and by Wednesday it was HOUSTON – OK TEXAS WE HAVE A PROBLEM, I now had excess drainage coming from my left eye and a crick in my neck. Still silly me I think its ALLERGIES. Well Friday (at 4:00 p.m) I rubbed my neck and realized there was this HUGE LUMP on the side of my neck, a lump that was not there Friday morning when I took a shower and got ready for work, a lump that did not hurt until I put rubbed it. Plus T is 11 months old and he likes to pat my neck so the pain I felt when I barely touched it would have definitely been felt by the flailing arms of an infant. It was at that moment that I realized something --- the crick in my neck WAS GONE. Oh yea, did I say "IT WAS 4:00 P.M. ON FRIDAY?"

So where do you think I wind up but in the Emergency Room at 9:30 p.m. on a FRIDAY NIGHT. My mom’s back was out so her sister offered to watch T, however, I wanted my mom to watch him as my mom has a bed for T (so I had to wait until T was ready to conk out, he decided that staying up WAY past his bedtime was a good thing, I think he sensed that mommy and mawmaw were not feeling well). Oh yes I left a tad bit of information out; A WAS WORKING THE 4:00 P.M. – 2:00 A.M. shift during all of this. I thought about calling A’s parents but since I did not know what they were going to do in the E.R. and I knew that my mom had an extra bed if I was unable to drive home and her house was much closer to the hospital so I decided she was a better choice.

Jump forward to the E.R. (God bless them and punish them all at the same time). They got me in and out and the Nurse Practitioner diagnosed me with STREP, however, he did say that he thought it was a little strange that only one side of my face was swollen (I thought what does he mean, my face is swollen, when I got there I had no external swelling, just a lump I could feel when I touched my neck). He went on to say that even though this was not normal for STREP and it was even more weird that no one else (i.e. HUSBAND, BABY, CO-WORKERS) was not sick he was sure that’s what I had and left it at if your not better by Wednesday, you better go to your regular doctor. Just one little issue HE NEVER DID A STREP TEST, he just gave me a Z-pack. The best part of my E.R. trip was that I was out of the E.R., had T picked up and waited 20-minutes for my prescription and took the 25 minute drive home and was even able to FALL INTO BED by MIDNIGHT. Before I left, I even thanked the E.R. nurse for getting me in and out of there before all of the people that REALLY NEEDED TO BE HOME were brought in from the partying; he laughed and said no problem.

The real problem started when I got home – when I looked in the bathroom mirror and realized that the swelling the nurse practitioner was talking about was the entire left side of my body from my eye down to my neck. I thought THAT was my REAL problem only to discover that when I laid down I felt PAIN. I wanted to scream like LUCY because I was in SOOOOOOO much pain and moving was not even an option as the pain became worse. A got home, felt my face and said "HMMMMMMM, I wonder what caused that."

Saturday morning came and THE HEADACHE THAT I HAD SINCE THE MIGRAINE WAS GONE ALONG WITH THE SORE THROAT AND EXCESSIVE EYE DISCHARGE. At this point I only had pain is when I was laying down or tried to move while I was laying down….. WEIRD HUH? Oh yes and I did still have pain when T patted my neck….

Sunday, my dear friend Rachelle from like FOREVER (I don’t remember not knowing Rachelle's family) and her family and some friends met A, T and I for lunch. Rachelle, being a Registered Nurse said, yep, it kind of sounds like STREP, but STRP does not usually swell on one side, so make an appointment with your Doctor.

So being the good patient that I am I called the Doctor first thing Monday and was very clear, I’ve already seen a Nurse Practitioner at the E.R. and visited with an R.N. and I NEED TO SEE THE DR. (OK Mom, dad, and all of you that REALLY KNOW ME, stop laughing about the good patient comment; I really try to be a good patient. I just hope the nurse I gave a shot to when I was 2 is not reading this; if she is SORRY. That’s another story; short version, don’t set a needle next to a two year old, especially one that knows what your going to do with it. See I should have been a NURSE, I was already in practice.)

The pain when I laid down had not subsided by Tuesday; I had an appointment for Wednesday morning and boy was I glad. I woke up Wednesday with the SWELLING ALL BACK (the knot had never gone away, however, the swelling in my eye and face had gone down but I still had swelling in my neck), a severe sore throat and now I was in PAIN if I moved too suddenly. I went into work for a couple of hours and left for the DR. and what did he do but a STREP test immediately and determined that I DID NOT HAVE STREP……… However, he figured that I probably had a sinus infection and the antibiotics they gave me in the E.R. was enough to get rid of the sinus infection, but not THE LUMP so he was going to go for 1200 m.g. of antibiotics a day for 10 more days and he ordered a cat scan and a visit with the Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor just in case it was my thyroid. His diagnosis, a swollen gland, which got clogged from a sinus infection. He did however want to cover all of the possibilities, so basically, tests, tests and more doctor’s visits for the next few weeks.

After my doctor's visit Wednesday I started having shooting pains in my neck up to my ear if I sat for very long or if I lay down. Thursday I was not any better. Today (Friday the 18th) I’m some better ----- GLORY HALLAUGH THE GROSS AMOUNT OF ANTIBOTICS ARE WORKING, the pain is still there, just not as bad when I am sitting or when I lay down and the swelling has gone down some.

Nurse AL’s diagnosis, a swollen gland……….