Sick-bed to ER to Well-dom

 Just over a week ago, I spoke too soon about feeling better. I thought I had the flu bug licked. Until I didn't. My fever came back to visit a couple of times then, just when I thought I really was getting better, one night my throat started hurting and I felt as if it were trying to close up. I took some aspirin and went to bed. 

Oh, Lord. What if I really am sicker than I think? What if I ignore this the way I ignored the sarc and it gets worse? What if I suffocate in my sleep?

Yeah. My anxiety kicked in the door and I imagined being found dead in my apartment. My messy apartment. 

I have a thing about keeping my place neat. I'm not fanatical about it but when your living space is as small as mine is, the least bit of clutter or thing out of place can resemble a scene from that show about hoarders. Seriously. So the only place I let things pile up is either on my bed or at my writing desk. And by "piling up", I mean having my computer, writing paper and pens, and some post-its taking up space. Since I'd been sick, I was keeping all that stuff on the little bed-tray-table thingie I have on one side of the bed. And because I was sick, there were some extra items on the bed - tissue, nose-spray, my pill organizer, a couple of bottles of water, and my Bible. There was barely room in the Queen-sized bed for my body.

The body that my family was going to find dead. In my messy apartment.

from the King Street Gallery
Wish I could afford a copy!

Not only was my bed a mess but so was the kitchen. Again, small space and things out of place. My kitchen is so small that I have to store my toaster on top of the fridge with I'm not using it. All I'd been doing since the bug had bitten me was fixing toast, coffee, and tea. But that had created a mess I had not cleaned up in days - paper plates and used paper towels and spoons sticky with honey and knives coated with old butter.

Someone is going to have to come in here and clean all this up before they can properly mourn my death.

Just like my own kitchen except neater

The more I laid on my bed, waiting for the aspirin to kick in, the more my throat seemed to close up. I was worried that maybe I did have COVID instead of the regular flu or a bad cold. I would die of COVID because I'd been too hospital-chicken to get myself checked. 

Lord, I don't mind dying but I sure don't want to die in a messy apartment.

I felt so sick and sorry for myself that I started to cry. And I started dozing off. Until my throat ache woke me. I sat up and realized I would have to go into the bathroom pantry to see if I had any more aspirin. But I was too freaking tired to walk to the bathroom and back. But my throat...

I guess the crying just made things worse because suddenly I felt like I couldn't swallow comfortably or get enough air in through my snotty nose.

When I called my family, it was about 11 or 11:30. They didn't even hesitate. As soon as I said that I thought I might need to go to the hospital, they went into action. The Conway Calvary was on the way!

Actually, the staff were all
very nice

And, of course, then I had to somehow get dressed. I hadn't showered in days and I had been sleeping in the same yoga pants, ratty t-shirt, bra, and underwear for at least 3 days (don't judge me!). There is not much that can get me to leave my house like that but I just didn't have the energy to do more than mask up my face, lock up my apartment and get myself to the lobby where I could sit and wait for my ride. They were there by the time I made it to the door. Looking all kinds of a hot, pitiful mess.

One I use here all the time

Now here's a weird thing that happened. Not even halfway to the hospital, my throat seemed to be opening up a little. it didn't hurt much to swallow and I actually felt as if I could fall right to sleep. 

The ER people are going to think I am overreacting to minor flu symptoms.

That's what I thought for about 2 seconds and then I remembered that this is 2021 and COVID is a thing. Thankfully, my family is vaccinated.

Too late, my friend.
It's too late,
though we really did try to make it.

So... A 10-minute ride to the ER; 5 minutes to disinfect my hands and sign in; 10 minutes in the waiting area (empty); 15 minutes in an exam room to strip, hide my icky bra and undies in my purse and under my coat (until they could be safely burned); 5 minutes with a nurse; and 10 minutes with a doctor and a lab guy who administered a COVID test. Then I laid there on the table and dozed for who knows how long? 25 minutes? An hour? When the doctor came back he was chipper and non-judgemental.

I don't have COVID. What I had was the lingering effects of the flu. And the problems with my throat closing up? That was most likely from an anxiety attack. I was released with orders to drink LOTS of water, take aspirin for any fever and see my regular doctor asap. I slunk out of there, relieved that I would live.

Funny enough, the ER doc said that he hadn't seen a "regular" flu patient in a long time.

Probably because "regular flu" patients don't rush to the ER in the middle of the night like manic hypochondriacs...

So, yeah. I live. I'm still super-fatigued and am using a lot of energy laying on my side in bed as I type this but at least I don't have COVID.

It was, Apparently, it was.

I've had bursts of energy. I have managed to empty the garbage, pick up the kitchen, and shower myself. I am still living mostly from my bed but I am feeling SO much better. Silly for running to the ER in the middle of the night, but...

If I die now, at least my bed will be the only messy thing about the apartment. 

Today, I made it to infusion and even stopped at the store on the way home for a quick minute. And I have finally gotten to try that WTRMLN Juice I've been hearing about. 

A bit of a 
disappointment :-(

That's the WTRMLN drink I've been searching everywhere for. My family picked it up for me. It's exactly like drinking the juice from a could-be-sweeter watermelon. I don't taste the lime at all, but I keep wanting to add sugar to it. I was disappointed the way I am when I am looking forward to a piece of tasty melon only to get one that's underripe. And I can taste the rind in this. It's not totally disgusting but I won't be rushing out to get more. Nope. (Maybe the other versions are better?)

In addition to trying the WTRMLN, I found a good ginger tea. The WTRMLN I tried might be a bust but...

Instant Ginger Tea with Honey

Now the ginger tea? That is so delicious. I don't like spicy things (wait til I get to the cayenne in a moment) but this is not the same kind of spicy as the pepper I force myself to add to juice. This tea is the first one I could find online that had ginger as the first of the ingredients and didn't have a lot of ingredients - just ginger, cane sugar, and honey. I like to drink it cold with a little bit of apple or pineapple juice or the occasional bit of coconut water (occasional because of the high potassium in coconut water). At night, I will drink it hot before bed.

And, yeah, I have been adding cayenne to my diet - for the capsaicin. Yep, me, the woman who can barely take too much black pepper in her food. 

Haven't had that problem. Yet.

I don't go crazy with it though. I have just been adding a little bit of cayenne powder to my juices and smoothies. If I add it to coconut water or apple juice, the heat isn't too much. Instead of ingesting a lot all at once, I just do little 6-ounce shots throughout the day.  One tip I picked up for cooling the heat is to use dairy (knew that one), something acidic (lime or lemon), or carbs (bread). For me, coconut water or apple juice works well.

Capsaicin is found in various types of peppers but is higher in the hotter ones (I think I'm saying that right). I have heard that, like ginger, it's good for the immune system. I also heard something about how it can rev the metabolism. Hmmm? I don't know. I'm almost beyond caring about that for now. But I can say that it does affect the appetite. On the days that I add some cayenne to my juice, I feel less hungry and less inclined to snack. ~shrug~

So, yeah, I'm trying to help my immune system out as much as I can. 

At any rate, I didn't die in a messy apartment. I am still here and feeling a little more back to my usual (hah!)  level of wellness every day. Hopefully, I will be getting some more posts out of the Draft basket and posted soon.

Peace

--Free