An Old Update

This is an old post I wrote at the end of March shortly after my mom left Georgia after staying with us for a week to take of me. It was a great week. I had my mom in town, Mom and Dad McQuay also made a short visit to see/hear Brenden's first master's recital, my fever went away, and I was feeling well enough in the evenings to see Brenden's four performances that week.

When I was writing the blogpost (which I didn't actually finish,) I didn't want to post it because I didn't think it was that big of a deal: I got sick and then I got better. I realize now that wasn't the case.

This post should give you a succinct description of the first month I was sick with histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, also known as Kikuchi's disease which is a lot easier to remember and spell.

3/31/12
Brenden said I should title this blogpost "I Miss My Mommy" because that's all I've been saying since she flew back to Texas Thursday afternoon. And it's true. I miss my mother terribly. She stayed with us for almost a week and she left her magic touch on our home and our hearts.

I really cannot express the gratitude I feel towards my mom right now. I know some people saw my facebook status when my mom decided to fly out to Georgia to take care of me but I'll provide a little more background and explanation about what's been going on these past few weeks.

At the beginning of the month, my body began feeling really achy and sore. I didn't know what was wrong and I attributed the aches and pains to my desk chair at work. The aches got worse and spread across my body more and I was just exhausted and totally worn out by the time I got home from work each day.

The week of the 11th, we finally bought a thermometer and discovered that I did indeed have a fever and was more than just achy. I missed work that Tuesday so I could stay home and just get over my fever. It was Brenden's spring break week so he stayed with me and helped me recover. I woke up the next morning with a low fever and went to work. My fever would get worse throughout the day but that first week of fevers it never got above 102 (and it spiked in the evenings when I was already at home) but each morning it was a really low-grade fever so I just kept going to work. (I really hope I didn't get anyone sick.)

Since I simply couldn't seem to shake this fever, I went to the Urgent Care Clinic that Saturday (St. Patrick's Day!) The doctor prescribed me antibiotics which did nothing except make me more sick. I was told that if I wasn't feeling better in a few days I should go ahead and go back to the clinic so that's what I did that Tuesday. My fever had been getting worse. It would only go down after I took Tylenol or Ibuprofen but after the medication wore off the fever would be back full force. The doctor I saw that Tuesday was pretty sure what I had was mono so she ran some more blood tests. I was told to go ahead and stop taking the antibiotics, which I gladly did, but I wasn't given anything else to try to treat my actual illness. The doctor wanted to wait until she got the tests' results back before she prescribed me anything.

I waited miserably at home each day, waking up in the middle of the night with fevers of 103-104, taking Tylenol and waking up seven hours later with a fever just as high. I had no appetite at all. Everything tasted bad; I didn't even want to drink water. Brenden was back at school trying to work on papers, exams, and get ready for his upcoming four concerts/recitals the next week. While Brenden was at school, I was helpless at home. The day before my mom flew out to take care of me, I was too weak to go downstairs to get myself food from our kitchen. My arms hurt too much to even carry my own mug.

Friday morning of the 23rd, the test results came in and the mono test was negative which meant I still had no idea what was wrong with me and I just seemed to be getting worse and worse. When my mom found out the doctor needed me back at the clinic to get more tests done because they didn't know what was wrong, she called up my dad and told him she was flying to Georgia to take care of me. My dad agreed that that sounded like a good idea. So while my mom was calling airlines and getting everything in order to fly out that afternoon, my dad called me back at my house where I was desperately miserable and frustrated and told me my mom was coming. I immediately started crying because I was so grateful. My spirit was boosted and just knowing my mom was coming to see me made me feel better already.

When my mom arrived that evening, I greeted her from the bottom of my stairs, wrapped up in a blanket, shivering, because my fever was climbing back up to 103. I know I looked like a pathetic sight. That night she made me homemade soup and even though I could only eat about 5-7 tablespoons, it was so wonderful to have my mom taking care of me. That night when I woke up at 2am with my inevitable fever, she sat up with me for the next two and a half hours and let Brenden sleep (poor Brenden hadn't been getting time to sleep or focus on much schoolwork while I'd been sick.) My mom took me to the clinic to get more blood tests done and Brenden was able to spend the day at school, practicing and working on his paper without having to worry if I was going to die alone at home. My appetite had been so bad that week that I'd actually lost a couple of pounds from Tuesday to Saturday. My mom made it her personal mission that I always have some food available at all times to eat whenever I felt the tiniest bit hungry. Brenden and I woke up to a hot breakfast every morning she was in town. I would go back to sleep after eating and my mom drove Brenden to school so he wouldn't have to take the bus.

(I just added this last paragraph to give some kind of close to the post since I didn't originally finish it.)
The doctor I saw at the clinic who was sure I had mono was still sure I had mono and prescribed me some steroids during our last visit. The steroids worked wonderfully, my fever went away, my body wasn't as achy, and I was able to do things again. After we were convinced I was healed (no fevers for a few days,) my mom flew back home. I finished my five-day pack of the steroids that same day and that evening I got another low-grade fever.