These last few days have been fun. And by fun, I mean awful. And by awful, I mean I seriously thought I might die. And by die…just kidding, I’ll stop that joke now. I should probably start at the beginning…October 2nd, 1980. Not that far back, no one has time for that story.
Go back in time to last week. Starting last Saturday, I was off for ten glorious days. I get an extra week of vacation compared to Lindsey, so this vacation is usually one where I do some projects. Last year it was a few little things. This year was going to be the mudroom. But first…GOLF!
Saturday I went golfing with Jason, Ryan, and Gideon out at Totteridge Golf Club. It was a great day and we ended up getting some food afterward at a place in Greensburg. It had been about ten years since I saw Gideon in person.
Sunday was a family day. We hit up the Cambria City Sunday Market, then went to the sunflower maze, and once we found our way out, we played mini-golf and got ice cream. Yeah, a pretty perfect day.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday….work time! I will write more about this project when I finish it completely. I just have one step to go (literally the top of the stairs to the attic) and some trim. Here is a preview of what you can expect to see…
Thursday we went to Disney on Ice at the PPG Paints Arena. We got the tickets through work, so they were free (and they were up in the suite, so that was cool AF).
The kids had a great time. I thought the Coco and Moana portions were very cool. For Moana they actually had a boat. Payton loved the Frozen part the most, but she was sad that none of the animals were there. No Sven, no Dante, and probably a few others she mentioned that I forgot.
Friday was a little more work in the morning, then Lindsey went to work, so it was just us at night. I think we ended up watching a movie that night.
And then came pestilence to the land!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lindsey took Payton to the doctor on Friday because she was complaining about her ears. She had an ear infection and would need some antibiotics.
Saturday morning, Logan woke up and was very phlegm-y. Both kids had runny noses all week and his was bad by the weekend. He ended up throwing up mucous a few times that morning. So I got the kids ready and we went to the doctor. I told the doctor that Logan’s daycare has had a bunch of cases of RSV. He said “yeah, all these people squeezing in those vacations and refusing to cancel them if anyone is sick is kicking off RSV season earlier than normal.” Thanks people! Anyways, after that I had to take Payton to a birthday party.
Sunday morning I started feeling a scratch in my throat. We went over to Kayla and Adam’s house for dinner and it was getting worse. I figured some hot tea would help and everything would be fine. I was WRONG!
I went to work on Monday and I felt alright. My throat still had a little tickle, but nothing forty cups of coffee would not melt away. I came home that night and ended up watching the movie Rounders on HBO. Seriously, John Malkovich’s Russian accent should be placed in a museum as a truly beautiful work of art. It is like the worst/best accent ever. As the movie was going, my throat hurt worse and my stomach hurt. Plus, my ears were achy. Those damn kids! I could barely sleep, I probably fell asleep around 4:00 a.m. Yeah, not a good night.
Then came Tuesday. Oh my. Sore throat, fever, congestion, pounding headache…I had it all. My entire body hurt. I fell back asleep for a little bit, then got up and went out to the couch. Lindsey wanted to clean a few things and usually our kids can be jerks during those times. But, they were somewhat good for most of the time I was on the couch. After falling asleep again for a few hours and not feeling any better (I think while Payton was at preschool and Logan was napping), I decided to go to the doctor.
First they did a rapid COVID test. NEGATIVE. My fever was concerning, so she wanted to do a COVID PCR test (it ended up NEGATIVE the next day as well). Next she ordered a flu test. I have never had a flu test. That is a weird sensation. It is like the COVID test, but then it feels like a tiny hair is being thrust further up your nose. When it came out, it tickled/hurt/felt good/made me shiver….yeah, it was a bizarre sensation. I told her about Logan’s RSV and she said it was probably that, but she wanted to be sure. I was negative for the flu as well. Since RSV is a virus, there was not much they could do for me. She gave me some Tylenol for my fever and told me to get some rest.
Wednesday I had to work at 6:30 a.m. I woke up and still felt awful. I went in and realized it was a mistake. Fortunately my other manager was coming in at 10:00, I let him know that I was sick and leaving. I put a trusted employee in charge, she is also a shift manager, and I came home. I went back to sleep while the kids were at daycare and Lindsey was home.
Unfortunately, things are never easy in life. We had a ton of rain on Wednesday and it caused our basement to flood. So Lindsey was in the basement trying to suck water up. On top of that, the daycare noticed spots on Logan that resembled hoof and mouth (they had an outbreak of that as well) and so she had to go get him. When she got there, the daycare decided to close early because of the weather and so she had to take Payton with her to Logan’s doctor. The doctor did not find any weird horse illness and they all came home.
Lindsey called a drain guy to come take a look at our basement. At this point, I was dying. My fever was ranging from 100.4 to 102.1. I was sweating and freezing. The guy came over, and he identified the problem and said he could fix it (that project happens in a few weeks, yay). Sadly, the carpet that we saved once is basically done for. A huge thank you to Tip & Greg for all their help. And by help, I mean doing all the work. Could I ask for better father-in-laws? They sucked up the water, tore out the carpeting and padding. I tried to help out today and lasted about fifteen minutes before I was out of breath, sweating, and on the verge of passing out.
Also, I have to say that my mother-in-law, Debbie, was a savior. She took the kids with her when Lindsey went to work. I have no idea how I would have fed them dinner (I barely had the strength to make myself dinner), entertained them, and put them to bed. She brought them back around 8:30 and stuck around to put them to bed. I think it was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I do not say that lightly. I owe her big time. I guess I need to make some pulled pork.
Ready to be grossed out? I went to bed at 10:30 and I think that is when my fever must have reached it’s apex. I was sweating so bad, it was like a ran on the treadmill for like an hour. The bed and pillow were drenched. My hair felt like I just dove in the swimming pool. And I was still cold.
I woke up today and the fever was gone. Unfortunately, the sore throat was worse. I could barely swallow. I went back to the doctor and explained it. They gave me a strep test. NEGATIVE. This doctor gave me presnisone for the inflammation. I tried to score some benzonatate, but he shrugged me off and said throat lozenges would do the trick.
My throat is a little better. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be at least back to 65%.
