What started out as a sore throat, a mild headache, some sinus drainage and a trip to the doctor telling me "it's a bacteria, we can't do anything about it" two weeks ago, ended up with a two night stay in the hospital.
I'm home now. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and concerns.
I woke up Wednesday and my throat was about halfway closed. I went back to the doctor, a different doctor at the same practice. With no fever and no drainage he looked in my throat and though right away there was an abscess in their putting pressure on my tonsils and lymph nodes. He sent me to a specialist later that day - who numbed my mouth, and tried to drain the abscess to no avail. Concerned there was something there, he advised me to go to the hospital, check in, and get CAT scan done Wednesday night. Not checking in would greatly delay my ability to get such a scan.
At 4 PM I checked into the hospital, and after the CAT scan was receiving around the clock antibiotics. I couldn't swallow any water or food, so they hooked me up to an IV to get fluids back in me, and I was given the opportunity to have some meds to help with the pain. I'm not a huge fan of those things [for fear of addiction] but it helped. I had a few visitors Wednesday night [ and quite a few people praying for me too] - they saw me in pretty bad shape, and the results of the CAT scan were good news - no abscess - so no surgery was needed.
Thursday morning I had a blood test done. Results... Mono. I'm not out there kissing all the ladies, so I don't know where I picked it up, but it flat out knocked me down. They switched me off two of the antibiotics [they weren't going to help] and gave me a steroid the help the swelling. By Thursday afternoon, my throat and lymph nodes reduced greatly, but the white blood cells in my count were still high [signs that my body still needed help fighting the infection]. Thursday night went by quickly, and I was released Friday morning.
Right now, I'm about 75% back to normal. The lack of food and quality of food once I could eat set me back, being stuck in the prison I call room 4605 didn't help either. But I'm doing okay now.
I was greatly encourage when a friend of mine told me today, "Nothing like a bit of dying to help you live!"
It floored me.
Wednesday afternoon and into the evening I was very grumpy. Like "punt a fat kid" grumpy. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't feel like doing anything but taking an exacto knife to my face to alleviate my pain.
Friday, I wake up with a renewed vision on life. Hospitals scare me. Well, death scares me. and I know that it traces back to my lack of faith in the gospel. If I believed it fully, I would have no problem facing any fear about any medical condition.
I didn't go in thinking I was going to die or anything - but being alone late at night in the hospital, I could hear the sounds, and get a sense that people around me were actually dealing with that issue. I was there because of a missed diagnosis two weeks ago, that just snuck up on me. There were people near me that were actually facing death on a much more practical level. I wanted the spirit to revel to me how I can follow him while I was there, but didn't hear anything back. Maybe I just needed to know that while I was there, people near me were dealing with these issues, and thusly people around me on a more day to day basis are too. That or people around me care about me more than I know - maybe both, maybe neither.
I thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. I don't want to say it was a "miracle" but it very well may be. I don't know. I want to say the real miracle lies in the fact that I'm learning and processing, and growing through this experience. The spirt wants to teach me something - and that is the greater miracle.
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