Sick Days

About a week before Christmas I had a horrible sore throat.  This is not that uncommon for me.  My throat aches quite a bit during the winter season.  This time, though, it was accompanied by a HORRIBLE MIGRAINE that caused my husband to miss a day of work.  Plus the sore throat lasted 5 days.  It was time to go to the doctor, it really hurt, seriously.  Now if you are a mom you know that it has to really be bad to actually take the time and energy to go see a doctor or take any time off from being a mom.  I marvel at how cavalier I used to be about being "sick".   I would have taken a day off of work at the first sign of sickness or at least come home and laid in front of the tv or read a book for the rest of the night.  (Do you ever wonder how you EVER thought you were BUSY before you had kids?  As if you even knew the definition.............I use to think I was tired or had a long day when I would get home late after school, say 6 o'clock but that gave me FOUR HOURS to do whatever I wanted when I got home.  I didn't have to clean or cook or do laundry if I didn't want to.  I could eat a bowl of cereal, I could nuke some leftovers, I could leave the cleaning and laundry for the weekend.  OH THE HOURS AND HOURS I spent reading :) while I thought I was busy or tired......oh and I know that this does not apply to every person without children, that there are those out there who are generally busy people but by and large when my friends and I discuss pre-kids and post-kids the most noticeable change is how little time there is just to be with your spouse or by yourself, you have to plan it.)

Well, it turned out I had strep throat.  No big deal really, right?  Get some meds and after 24 hours you aren't contagious and life goes on.  Right.

No.

Not if you are the one in however many that gets psoriasis when you get strep.

That's right.

Little, itchy, red bumps covering my entire torso and then spreading to my arms and legs.  Fun, fun times. This happened about six years ago for the first time.  I had to try steroid creams, lotions (which my LOVING husband put on while wearing work goggles, a face mask and completely clothing himself which he thought was SO FUNNY - this is also an indication of how widespread the bumps get.....this time there was none of that, he was barely fazed by it.  That's over seven years of marriage for you :), meds and then finally I had to go tanning (orders from the dermatologist).  It lasted a month.

Let me digress for a moment to tell you what else has been going on.  So this was about a month a ago that the strep and psoriasis appeared.  About a week later the nonstop vomiting started.  I might have told you all about it before but just a recap - Fia had it for about 3 days.  Then Nico and Francesca got it for 3 days.  We had a healthy day.  Then Francesca vomited, then Nico, then Joe.  Then my mom and brother got it.  Nico vomited again.  Then my dad got it.  Then...........all was clear.  One day later?

My throat hurt.

Come on.  Really?

I went through a day of being really tired, mild headache, sore throat, that kind of thing.  I thought, no way.  (I have no idea why I thought that as the bumps were still going pretty strong....)  Day two I felt worse but still thought, no, we just all got over being sick.  I am SO NOT SICK.  Joe comes home and Nico and I are on the couch.  I am SO TIRED and feeling oh so wretched.  I actually let Nico play the Ipod Touch for almost an hour because I thought I just cannot get off this couch.  I went to Aultcare.

Yep.

Strep throat.

The doctor WAS SO NICE but a little horrified by the bumps.  He asked are they that bad everywhere?  I showed him my back and legs.  He said we have to get rid of those!  No kidding, doc.

So now I am on some different meds.  The kids are fine.  The spouse is fine.  My parents are fine.  I'll be fine tomorrow and NOT contagious.  I felt better this afternoon so after Francesca's nap we made blueberry muffins, chocolate chip banana bread and mozzarella cheese.  I love to cook.  We may have a dusty house and PLEASE DO NOT LOOK under any piece of furniture but we eat well :)

Oh and if you see me looking so tan or Fia tells you that her mom goes tanning every day it's because of the psoriasis.  Although......oh my, some of the favorite 12 minutes of my day are spent in that quiet, warm, peaceful tanning bed.   I asked that lady at the tanning place if anyone has ever fell asleep and she said they had to take 30 minutes to try to completely wake up one person, so completely were they our of it.  I believe it.