In the Begining

I first fell ill May 6, 2010. I caught some virus from my kid. It was a new one. One that neither of us had ever had before. It hit us hard. My kid doesn't usually get sick and it felled him and then myself. Extreamly sore throat, exhaustion. We were both popping asperin and using sore throat spray to numb the pain so we could swallow our own spit. I kept waiting for the cold to come. The stuffy head and runny nose but it never came. We were both well again within four days. My kid returned to school and I returned to work.

Three days later I went ice skating. I had a competition coming up and I needed to get in my practice. I had a great practice Friday although I still felt a bit off. I skated my program through a couple of times and broke a nice sweat. Saturday I felt like I had been hit by a bus. It was like having the flu. I ached every where. I was freezing cold to the point of my teeth chattering even though it was 70F out. My throat was on fire again. I spent the next several days in bed again. My doc put me on antibiotics and I stayed home for the week. I don't know if it was the rest or the pills but I was feeling okay by Friday, which was lucky because my friend had flown in from Seattle for our college reunion. We drove out to the reunion and had a great weekend despite my sore throat. I was eating lozengers like they were candy.

Another week back at work and it was time to skate again. I had gone skating during the week but felt weak and out of it so I did a light workout rather than my usual full tilt workout. But, the competition was looming and I had to start doing run throughs again. Saturday I blessedly found some near empty ice and worked my butt off. Again I worked up a great sweat. I had lost some of my stamina and was wondering if I would regain it prior to the competition. However, Sunday I again woke up feeling like I had the flu. My sore throat and fever was back. This time I was also nauseous and dizzy. I got so cold that I was shaking and my husband put me to bed with four blankets on top of me. Typically I only sleep with one and it was a nice warm 70F out. Me, I couldn't get warm. I stayed home another week. I went back on a second antibiotic which didn't help. I was sleeping 12+ hours a night and takign multiple naps during the day. I couldn't stay awake for more than a few hours at a time. My acupuncturist put me on a diet of double boiled rice. Although that sounds unappatizing I was nausous and had no appitite and was forcing myself to eat. I was loosing weight rapidly so the rice didn't sound like a bad idea.

I stayed home a second week and a third. I was slowly getting my appitite back. I could eat plain foods and trips to the organic market became part of my route home from my acupunture sessions. I was eating mostly fruit and vegetables with boiled eggs, chicken and salmon for my proteins. Rice was it for carbs. Anything else made me nausous.

By the forth week, I had settled into a routine of laying on the couch covered in blankets despite the warm weather watching movies. My brain was too foggy to read. I couldn't seem to hold two thoughts together and movies helped to keep my mind busy. I spread my appointments out over the week. I couldn't handle more than one a day. My sore throat now only flared back up when I got tired. I managed to make a boiled egg and toast breakfast and a simple vegetable soup lunch before retreating to the couch completely drained. I craved ginger so I added ginger ale to my drink list and turned my soup into a Japanese style broth with chicken, tofu or salmon, rice noodles with chopped cabbage and mushrooms. A dash of garlic, a dash of ginger and splash of wheat free soy sauce made for a tasty and tolerable dish. I couldn't handle making dinner.

Slowly I gained ground. I stopped napping during the day. Twelve hours of sleep dropped to eleven and then to ten. I could add an occassional shower. I didn't need as many blankets. I could read a little bit. I could sit at the computer for a while. I could sit out on the deck for a bit. I felt well enough to add the chiropractor to my list of office visits. After two months I managed to make simple dinners every other day or so. I even managed dinner for company when my husband's friend came for a visit. I was getting better it was just slow. I even started toying with the ideas of getting back on the ice and getting back to work.

Then I was unexpectedly felled again. It came out of the blue. Being a girl I have cycles. Well, for some reason this one knocked my flat on my butt. I was back to sleeping 12+ hours a day. Taking naps during the day and not having the energy to do anything. What the hell happened? Why was this cycle different?

Now several weeks later. I'm not back to where I was that wonderful Sunday when I made dinner for our guest. I can function on 8-10 hours of sleep with no nap. I can make breakfast and lunch, take a shower and go to one appointment but that is about my limit. I get dizzy and nausous if I do more. My sore throat seems to be a thing of the past but I still get fevers of 99-100F fairly regularly. My days are now split up into three pieces. Morning:get up, eat, shower, go to an appointment, eat. Afternoon: lie down for 4 hours. Evening: get up, eat dinner, watch movies or read.

I'm wondering if I'll ever get better or if this is truely chronic. I just got sent to the virologist. He is doing more tests. I'll get to the tests in a later blog. What in hell is happening to me?