Monday 30 January 2012

A mixed bag of a week

I have been really ill this past week, that might sound strange when you consider I have a progressive medical condition that leaves me with huge mobility problems and can have me bed ridden on really bad days but I actually don't think of that as an illness, an illness to me is something that comes and then goes again.
The Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis is a way of life now I guess, accepted as such and lived with as best as I can.
No this was a cold! A full blown, blocked up, coughing and spluttering cold. Not the 'man flu' that hubby decided he had at the same time, this couldn't possibly be as bad as that, so I had a cold.
The strange part was I was so surprised to have succumbed to this germ infested sneezing  fit as my condition is an auto immune condition and as I understand it my immune system works overtime, it attacks healthy joints etc all the time so it seemed unlikely that anything like a cold germ would survive, after all the main reason the medical profession are unable to treat me is all the medication designed to slow this disease down work by suppressing your immune system and as soon as they attempt this with mine I suffer one infection after another which make me seriously ill, (see that I define as being ill as it's short lived and 'different' to the disease.)

Anyway whatever the reason, if indeed there needs to be a reason, I woke up Wednesday morning with a full blown cold, coughing and sneezing for Britain! 
Hubby in his usual sympathetic way pronounced himself worse than me and set about proving it by moaning in time to my coughing and spluttering.

It also turned out that this was the morning that our grandson who had been in hospital since Sunday night with an asthma attack was diagnosed with pneumonia.
The hospital had tried to discharge him twice since Sunday night but as he was still having to go on oxygen as his levels kept falling my daughter refused to take him home and insisted they find out what was causing it, eventually on the Tuesday they took chest x rays which showed he had been suffering with pneumonia, thank goodness for a mothers knowledge and insistence that she knew her son wasn't just having another asthma attack.

Why is it when you are unwell yourself the world and it's mum wants to join in?
Why is it when you are unwell yourself something like the grandson getting so Ill happens and you are unable to be the supportive grandparent you wish to be?
And why is it when you are unwell yourself that an opportunity to go out comes along and you can't go?
Yes it was our anniversary on Thursday,
38 years of married life together deserved celebrating didn't it? 
38 years and we hadn't killed each other, 
38 years and we are still talking, 
38 years and We still laugh together.
This deserved celebrating but we were both too ill to go out so we treated ourselves to a takeaway and sneezed our way through our anniversary together.

So far I hadn't taken to my bed but by Saturday my body decided enough was enough and no way was it going to let me get up.
Why don't we ever have a day in bed when we feel ok? I should think it would be lovely to just laze the day away, sleep on and off and have drinks and food brought to you if you wanted it.
But when you are not well it is no fun, hot = covers off, 10 mins later cold = covers on, and repeat every 10 minutes ad infinitum.....
Add to this mix a cat and a puppy, both of whom want to share the bed with you and both of whom seem to think its playtime, move an aching foot and cats on it, cat then is jumped on by puppy and round the bed they go like two furry maniacs until eventually exhausted they settle down for a nap, ahhhhh peace......covers on, covers off.....

Thankfully today I am feeling better, still a bit snuffly and the cough is taking a bit longer to give up but definitely on the mend, just as well because part of my problem with being ill is I am not a patient patient, I get very fed up with myself and bored with it. 
I don't 'do' being ill very well, strange thing to say from someone who is long term ill I suppose but goes to show how our minds separate such things into sections that we find acceptable doesn't it? My mind accepts a cold as an illness and therefore something I can admit freely to having where as it struggles even after all these years with the debilitating effects of my chronic medical condition? One for another time perhaps. 
So this has been my week, how was yours? 



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 comments:

feline9 said...

I know exactly what you mean, I hat being 'ill', just so not fare!! Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better xxx, hope you will be taking it easy though and give yourself a chance to get over it **hugs**

Rositta said...

Not quite as bad as yours. I haven't taken to bed yet, in fact I'm suffering from insomnia right now. Side effect of high dose of prednisone. I'm on my second day of six. My psoriatic arthritis has attacked my feet and knees and even my fairly new hips ache. Maybe tomorrow I'll stay in bed. I don't have a cold though and I'm glad your feeling better...ciao