The Week From....

Warning: this post may be boring and graphic in some parts, but I had to document the past 7 days in our lives. They were truly monumental.

Some set-up: I've had a cough since early June, but no other symptoms of cold, flu, etc. But it all came to a head last Monday, June 20. I had houseguests coming for the week (post about that as soon as I can figure out how to scan) and I started to feel a little feverish. I welcomed the guests, showed them where the towels were and went to bed with some Tylenol.

I woke up with a fever on Tuesday, but after a dose of Tylenol or Advil, it went down and we were able to grocery shop and ride our bikes to swim lessons. As long as I took some medicine every 4-6 hours, the fever abated.

Wednesday, my guests (an old roommate from USU and her 2-year-old daughter) and me and the boys were going to the zoo to meet another old roommate (one who we hadn't heard from in 15 years!!). It was incredibly crowded and incredibly hot and I had a fever and aches and a headache all day. I have a hard time enjoying the zoo when I'm healthy, let alone when I'm sick and surrounded by a million strangers. Later that night, I had promised to babysit Landon's brother's 3 kids while they went to a wedding. My guest left to go pick up her niece and Landon was working late giving a tour of the Frito Lay factory to our ward's Young Men group. I started getting more feverish (102.6 degrees) and had some serious chills. So I laid on our couch watching 6 kids and shivering to death just waiting for another adult to spell me. Tylenol and Advil wouldn't touch this fever and I had it for a good 24 hours.

Thursday morning I dragged my fever-y keister to the clinic where they took a chest x-ray and said I had an "impressive case of pneumonia". They started an IV of fluids and antibiotics while I shivered on a teeny tiny exam table for 3 hours. The doctor left the IV in my hand and told me to come back Friday morning for more antibiotics. He was pretty concerned about my accelerated heart rate and said he was just trying to keep me out of the hospital. My old roommate took the boys to swim lessons and Landon hurried home from work to be with the kids so my friend could meet another roommate of ours for lunch. I was so sad to miss it; we hadn't seen this friend for 15 years, either. Thursday evening my fever finally broke.

Thursday starting about midnight, Ethan started throwing up and he puked most of the night and most of Friday. Luckily for me, I was loaded with codeine cough syrup and didn't hear any of it. I did manage to capture 2 photos of our week. Friday afternoon I was napping on the couch and looked to find both boys asleep by me.

Poor sick Ethan. Just out of the frame is a puke bucket and a bottle of Gatorade.

Bored Henry dressed himself in Batman costume and fell asleep while watching TV. I think he didn't get much sleep listening to Ethan throw up all night.

Friday morning, I went in for more IV treatment and the doctor felt that I needed 2 different oral antibiotics and to come in again on Saturday. Our houseguests left Friday afternoon (I'm sure she was ready to leave our leper colony) and we sat on our couch all day Friday and Saturday. We had a dinner invitation at some dear friends' house, but I was in no condition to go so Landon took the boys while I took a bath.

Sunday, Landon took only Henry to church, but mid-way through Sacrament Meeting they came home because Henry's tummy hurt. He looked very pale. During the afternoon, Henry used our downstairs toilet and clogged it with too much toilet paper. Landon walked by and saw that the whole floor was covered in a couple inches of water, just missing the carpet. So he spent the better part of an hour vacuuming up the water while I started washing rugs and towels. (No, we did not keep the Sabbath Day holy). Henry was moaning all this time with a tummyache; luckily he never threw up. Right after that, Landon started throwing up and he puked all night.

Monday we took Ethan to his pediatrician because he had a low-grade fever Sunday and Monday and a small cough had turned into a big, wheezing cough. We're spooked about pneumonia now, but he just has some infection that needed an antibiotic and a steroid treatment and he's feeling and sounding better.

I think we're on the mend now. I've washed every blanket, pillow, sheet, and towel in the house. Landon has been a Nazi with the Lysol spray. We feel like a giant petri dish of germs. I'm just hoping we didn't infect any of our friends.