Ho, Ho, Hospital???

Well it certainly has turned out to be a December to remember. That head cold I mentioned last post got quite a bit worse. Probably a flu but no official diagnosis yet. I've had three days straight of fevers in excess of 102. The highest was 104.5 and ibuprofen wasn't keeping things under control. Thankfully my wonderful nurse/mother helped my through a long delirious night by making me ice my neck. You know you're in trouble when sleeping upright on your couch using a bag of ice as a pillow is comforting.

After two nights of ice pillow snuggling my fever finally broke this morning. However, I was so exhausted and congested that I finally threw in the towel and checked in to Clarian North Hospital (aka the Taj Mahal). I'm pretty tough but realized that the best way to get better fast and effectively was to have 24/7 intensive therapy.

My master plan is to be out by Christmas Eve. We are still hoping to host Randy's parents and have a fun and relaxing holiday weekend. Also, I need to be in good shape for our annual music cruise in Jan. We leave in 13 days...YIKES. Thankfully all my exercise recently is helping me get through this episode better than I would have expected. Of course Randy & my mom have been amazing and I can thank them both enough. Yes Hillary it does take a village :)

If you've called me, emailed me, facebooked (verb?) me, etc lately I probably have not responded yet. Frankly my energy/focus is shot to heck. So this is the quick and easy way to keep you all up to date.

Will post more frequently this week. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday.

Love,
Steph

Hey Debbie I'm still alive and doing well...sorta kinda

OK it's been a while since I posted. Not only do I know this in my heart but also because my aunt Debbie let me know via my uncle John that I needed to update my blog. So this update is for Debbie with lots of love.

Yep as the subject line says I'm still alive and actually doing well...sorta kinda. I felt great yesterday. In fact it's probably the closest to "normal" I've felt for a while. In October my oxygen saturations were not where they should be and I started using supplemental oxygen during exercise or while doing things around the house. A normal person should have an oxygen saturation above 90% even during strenuous exercise. However, mine went down into the mid 80s with exercise. At rest it was above 90% but my heart rate would be above 100. So using supplemental oxygen was a way to give my heart a rest while recovering.

Mentally going on supplemental oxygen is not an easy thing to do. For me it is an indicator that the progression of my disease is accelerating. So what to do? Give it my all to reverse the way things were headed. I decided that December would be my month to do some hardcore rehab. So the last few weeks I've been hitting it hard almost everyday and trying to increase my exercise tolerance each time I work out. And the great news is that my December to remember has been as success!!! I'm not using oxygen at all right now...WOO HOO!!!

So if I'm doing so great what's this "doing well...sorta kinda" stuff? Even though yesterday was great, I woke up in the middle of the night with a killer sore throat and major stuffed up head. Looks like the cold & flu season finally found me. Hopefully I can get through it quickly and back to my workouts. For now I'm enjoying chicken soup lunches with my sweetheart and hoping for the best :)

Love,
Steph