The Trimmier Life

2 hours, 1 chest x-ray, 1 strep test, 6 prescriptions, 1 over-the-counter expectorant, and $308 dollars later we are home and expected to live (and hopefully be feeling a lot better before we leave for vacation on Thursday).  We gave in this afternoon after neither of us could kick the coughs and aches and went to the local Texas Med Clinic to see a doc.  She was quite thorough (hence the chest xray to check for pneumonia) and was sure to address each of our symptoms to try to make us better.  So here we are, at home, drugged up and hoping that all our pangs will be cured in the next few days.  Our food delivery (from the mom-in-law) was BBQ today and although the spicy sauce nearly choked me when it hit my raw throat, I can't complain too much because the 10 minutes of straight coughing actually gave me quite the ab workout   hehe.  Thanks for all the well-wishes! 

It’s been a really rough week.  It started last Thursday (June 5th) when I woke up with a sore throat and an ear ache.  I immediately called in sick to work and scheduled a doctor’s appointment – I didn’t want to take any chances since we were traveling to Mexico for the wedding on Saturday.  Well, the doc said that it wasn’t anything serious, gave me a shot for my sinuses/drainage and said to take some Sudafed…so I did and for the most part I felt better.  Come Tuesday, Dustin woke up with the same symptoms, but a lot worse – he had the sore throat, ear ache and a lot of sinus pressure.  He too went to the doc, got a shot and some allergy meds to help clear up the sinus issues and was on his way.  But, Wednesday he wasn’t better…Thursday and Friday proved to be worse…his symptoms progressed and he was miserable, up coughing all night and having to drink hot tea at 3am because his throat hurt so bad.  He took to his old habit of drowning himself in vitamin C and water and by Friday afternoon he was feeling some relief.   But, I wasn’t — when I started feeling better on Friday (June 6th), I proceeded to push myself and workout with my trainer and do extra cardio at the beginning of this week (hey, I’ve got a vacation coming up and I wanna look good in my swimsuit!)…but I think I pushed my body to the point revenge.  I came home early from work on Friday with such bad sinus pressure and drainage that I had to sleep for 3 hours…by 8pm I was running a 102 degree fever and having the worst body aches I’ve ever had in my life (my skin hurt to the touch).  I too started a vitamin C and water regimen (5 vitamin C pills every hour with at least 1 to 2 bottles of water an hour), but at bed time I was still woebegone.  We went to bed at 1am and by about 3 my fever had broken and I was at least able to fall asleep (Dustin was kept awake by my coughing every 2 to 3 minutes).  Today, we are up and moving, but both of us are drained of any and all energy we are used to having…and it sucks.  We’re still coughing (a lot), blowing our noses 15 times an hour and spitting up stuff….ok, ok, I won’t describe…you get the point.  Basically, for the past week we have been surviving on over-the-counter elixirs, sinus sprays, cough drops, Tylenol, vitamin C and Kleenex…not a happy existence.

We did get a little reprieve and some TLC today from Deb (Dustin’s mom).  When she heard we were sick she instinctively went into mom-mode and made a trip over to the house with air filters (Dustin wanted to change them to help our breathing), chicken soup, fajitas and all the fixins (in case we got hungry for solid food), 2 types of cough syrup, cold iced tea, and laundry detergent (we used ours up washing all of virus-soaked linens).  We are so grateful to have such loving parents so close and are thankful for what she did today…it saved us from having to get out of the house and exerting the energy we didn’t have to begin with.  THANKS DEB!

We leave for vacation on Thursday (4 days in Florida and then 6 days in Playa del Carmen) and we are doing everything we can to rid our bodies of the plague that has invaded our health…wish us luck!

We are dogsitting this week for our friends who are on their honeymoon in Cozumel (see previous post about our attendance at a wedding in Mexico).  The puppy’s name is Cinko (he’s a 10 month old jack russell terrier), but Dustin and I have given him a nickname — Bean — as in JUMPING bean.  He has so much energy and has been so much fun this week.  Him and Dustin have really had a chance to bond since Dustin has been home sick 3 days this week.  They have a schedule…play in the yard for 2 hours in the morning (Cinko that is)…chase birds, snap at bugs, run laps around the fence line like a race horse (he’s a fast little sucker)…then come in an nap stretched out on the couch under the fan.  We are in love with him and are glad to have another furry nephew in our family (we dogsit a lot).