It's been a year

One year ago today I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and it's been one roller coaster of a year for sure. It's been a long, dark and scary back alley of a year in some respects; an alley that I thought I was destined to walk alone, desperately looking over my shoulder as I scrambled to find an exit or some safe haven from the horrible unknown that skittered in the dark closely behind me.

Then around a week later my best friend in the whole world was diagnosed, and in the most odd/bizarre/tragic/morbid/comical way... suddenly I was not alone. We traveled  together, huddled in the dark while taking turns shining a flashlight for each other; shedding light on pitfalls and outright stumbling blocks in our path.

We have laughed and cried together out of grief and terror, we have fallen silent and morose. We have joked about the possibilities of the illness, and have related to each other in ways that even our loved ones fail to comprehend. Monique and I both have a better understanding of what we are dealing with, and we have shared a wealth of knowledge with each other.

In these ways, my life has somehow become richer. Through common ground and despair, we have connected on a level I never thought was possible. We had discovered mere months before being diagnosed that we were best friends, already a friendship deeper than ANY friendship I have ever had outside of my marriage. So deep in fact that she asked that I be the godmother to her unborn daughter. :) We have so many similarities, so many odd things in common that it's mind boggling... then to have this happen?

The most mind blowing thing from all of this is that we have not met in person yet. In just 14 days I get to meet my other soul mate, my sister from another mister... my life doppelganger.

I am so thankful and utterly grateful to have her in my life. We have gotten each other through so many rough spots in the last 12 months, and have created a relationship bound (and gagged) in love and laughter since July 2011.

Simply put, I could not have gotten through this last year without her*.

I cannot wait to see where this road goes next, Monique "Bella Boo"!
I'm positive. *wink*





*Of course it goes without saying that I could not have gotten through this year without my loving and supportive husband, who is the yin to my yang. Love you MISU!

OK, maybe not :/

First off, let me say that I just did my first official post for The Parent Bloggers Network. We received The Zula Patrol: Explore Space! DVD , but if you want to see what we thought of it, head on over to Simply Mert, my new-ish review blog!

Things are going good here at the 'vich front, kinda.

Yesterday morning Anna looked very pale and her cough was getting worse so I listened to her lungs, plus she had a fever of 102.2. I heard some crackles in the left lung and decreased breath sounds on the right (which is an indication of poor air exchange, possibly from many causes but in this case it could have indicated that her lower lung was already pretty well saturated with pneumonia).

Anna and Emma both had pneumonia twice last least year, and Anna had it once already this year (She was preemptively treated for pneumonia earlier this year because she had a nasty cold. The doctor had a hard time determining if he heard things moving in her chest or not because of all of her congestion, and since she had pneumonia twice last year he decided to go ahead and treat it.)so when my girls get a wet cough- especially if the gunk they cough up turns yellow- I don't mess around. I take them in.

John took Anna to the doctor yesterday and my poor girl has Walking Pneumonia.

Luckily I trusted my mother's/nurse's intuition and had her seen. Her chest began to hurt last night after being seen, which usually means the pneumonia is getting worse. Last year, she developed a 105 fever in less than 48 hours after the onset of symptoms... so you can see why it makes me nervous when my kids get sick.

Anyway, last night she got a high starting dose at 8pm (called a loading dose), and by 10:30pm her fever was down to 97.6 from 101.7. She was very angry with me that I didn't let her go to school today, so that's another good sign LOL! Usually when she is very sick, she's too tired for drama. ;)

To top it all off, Emma has decided that her night time bribes are no longer adequate compensation for going to bed like a big girl all by herself... and proceeded to scream of and on for over an hour. Taking short breaks when we went upstairs to console her of course! In the end I had to threaten her new Build A Bear bunny.

"Scream again and your bunny sleeps with the fishes."

I'm just kidding! I told her that I would put it in time out. ;) Evidently that did the trick, because "Nobody puts Bunny in a corner."

WOW

The Dear, Sweet Lord does answer prayers, even if they come in the form of blog posts. ;) Thank you, Lord! :D No new baby boogers for me. I've never been so thankful for cramps in my life!

The old adage "He never gives you more than you can handle"... well, I think He has tested me on that one a few times and I was hoping that this wasn't one of them. I think a lot of lovely ladies and gents out there have had at least one scare like that.

I need to take the hubby to get fixed. That's that. ;)

Thank you for all of your funny, kind and concerned words. I'm just sick I guess. Motrin is helping much more than Tylenol now. I didn't take Motrin the first few days cuz I thought I was knocked up. Motrin, TYSVM!

And on to much sadder news, I was talking to my brother yesterday... While trying not to barf. Not because I was talking to my brother, though he has had that effect on me in the past ;) He is my younger brother ya know.

Anywho, he had just heard about Heath Ledger. I couldn't believe it. I had to actually do a google because I just didn't want to believe. It's so sad that another one of Hollywood's most promising actors is gone. Just like that.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed watching him in every role he played, from 10 Things I Hate About You to Brokeback Mountain. He brought depth, honesty and vulnerability to each and every role he played.

I know there are more pressing matters going on in the world, and that people die every day... but for me, it's always heartbreaking when someone who has brought happiness and joy into our lives has their life cut short whether it be by accident or other means.

My prayers go out to his family. Heath, rest in peace.

I have a hang over, and I'm gonna blow!

An icky sicky hangover that is, without the benefit of imbibing. I acquired a bug and came down with chills, fever, dizziness and NAUSEA! Hooray for me! This morning my 101.3 fever was gone but my eyeballs still felt like they wanted to pop out of my head. Actually, they still feel like that.

Aside from sleeping on and off during the day while Emma sat next to me playing or watching the Disney channel. My eyes were still achey but I felt better. until about 45 minutes ago. Fever is back, nausea is back, dizziness is back, 24 layers of clothes to stave off the chills... yup, back.

I thought I had kicked a 24 hour bug in about 20 hours because of my recent health kick (soy milk, fruits and nuts, leafy greens) but apparently I was wrong.

The only other explanation TMI ALERT!!!! could be the recent "contraceptive wardrobe malfunction" during a recent conjugal visit with my cell mate. To which I say- I'm getting too old for this sh*t (meaning gestating).

I mean really, I loves my chil'rens, but two is our limit since they both have a double dose of the stubborn, loud and sassy genes. TWO IS GOOD. Last night John and I were talking and I told him I hoped I was sick sick not morning sickness sick, and that I was going to lose it over the smell of the chicken nuggets he was cooking for the girls.

I said, "You better start praying..."

And he said, "What's God going to do? Make us unpregnant?"

So, I'm going public with this because in the bible it says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4).

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I haven't exactly been delightful lately. I haven't been to church in ages and though I am a Christian I don't advertise it, not because I am ashamed but because I'm not an example of a GOOD one. ;) Not lately... I need to work on that.

But still, Dear Lord, you know I have my hands full. If you would like me to stay sane with all that I am blessed with, please keep the 'Vich brood to just the four of us if you don't mind.

Kay, thanks. I know, I need to go to church and talk to you more and usually I don't mention You and the words "contraceptive wardrobe malfunction" and sh*t in the same blog post or conversation, but I'm hoping that you are listening with a light heart. And yes I realize that my blog post chock full of complaining and whining has somehow turned into a prayer... but You know how I do.

Oh, Dear Sweet Lord, one more thing... If John happens to read this post from work, please don't let him be mad that I mentioned the "contraceptive wardrobe malfunction". Three times now in one prayer/post.

Thanks,
Your not so "delightful" servant,
~mert

*sigh*

Anna was sick last week with a stomach flu that kept her out of school for 3 days... she felt better Friday evening.

Then promptly cam down with another cold/virus Saturday morning, and was coughing so hard that she threw up a few times. Monday, she felt icky so stayed home a 4th day.

Emma got sick Sunday night.

If you have yard apes, grand-ankle biters or work around the wee folk all day long I am sure you can imagine... all the stuff! (typed with nondescript exhaustion... well, because i am exhausted, so exhausted, i refuse to capitalize :P )

Yesterday, it was encroaching on lunchtime and I got the shakes. I realized that though the tissue terrorizing, prolific booger producing rain forest destroyers that I love so dearly were properly fed clothed and medicated, I had neglected to feed myself.

I heated up the leftovers from Sunday breakfast, and being a little short on money, I decided that all leftovers would be eaten with appreciation. I attempted to heat up my eggs and hash browns.

"Mommy i want up."

Mommy has to have breakfast.

"mommy, I need this."

Not right now, i need to eat.

"mommy, I want that."

I am hungry....

"mommy, i have a booger."

Mommy's have to eat too, ya know....

"Mommy, can i? Mommy give me, mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy I want, Mommy I need..."

Can i please eat my....

"UP mommy... I want mommy..."

"PLEASE, CAN I EAT MY MUSHY, REHEATED HASH BROWNS AND RUBBERY EGGS IN PEACE? I'M STARVING! I just want to eat, give me 10 minutes, for Pete's sake. God!...............help me."

*crickets*

20 seconds go by, and my 2 year old's eyes get a fraction larger.

"Up?"

I bury by head in my hands and stare at the less than appealing clumps of slightly greenish hued scrambled 'used to be eggs'. Blah. I eat but do not enjoy my left overs and wash it down with my barely room temperature coffee. I pretend that the leftover bacon is crunchy, and that it is crunchy enough to drown out the munchkin that continues to blatantly disregard my growled requests to be left alone to consume my lackluster fare.


Then I remember, as I manage to gulp down my practically tasteless coffee, that just 8 years ago we were about to end our 11 years of infertility with the biggest surprise and blessing ever.

It's all worth it, and though i would change a few minor details (as in the frequency of illness, and the rate at which they destroy paper products), I wouldn't trade my booger covered boogers for anything.

The End.

I wrote this post as an entry in the Mommy Tantrum contest... do you have a great mommy Tantrum story? Head on over to Bottles, Barbies and Boys and enter your story!

My poor kid

Anna has had a slight case of walking pneumonia, which was sandwiched between 2 different colds. She just got rid of her cough after being sick for almost a month, and now?

A fever of 104.4 with nausea and vomiting. Last nigh she woke me up after 3 am and said her stomach hurt and she felt like she was going to barf. Boy did she ever! She went with her dad to the emergency room to make sure it wasn't anything serious.


The ER doc asked her routine questions like if she had trouble going poop. She said no, and that she had gone yesterday morning.


He then asked her if she had trouble peeing. John said she looked over with a look that was somewhere in between this:
and this:
...with one raised eyebrow, and whispered sarcastically while rolling her eyes, "That's a silly question."

My girl, she may have lost her sense of humor, but never her sense of sarcasm. ;)