A Pilgrim’s Digression

I don’t know what other folks’ experience has been like, but this has probably been the worst winter on record in terms of illness for our family. It started two weekends before Christmas when I came down with a bad cold that somehow held me in its grip all through the coming week, then into Christmas and beyond. Even as recently as last weekend, I was still hacking and sneezing when I first got up in the morning.

Then over Christmas, Brendan came down with strep. We ended up in one of those walk-in doctor’s offices in West Virginia a few days after Christmas, where the doctor informed us that strep was indeed prevalent this holiday season. He prescribed antibiotics, and we came home to Virginia thinking the worst was over.

However, when we arrived, Josh was sick with a cold. Mine was getting better–indeed all last week I felt in tip top shape. But by Friday, I had a sore throat again. Yesterday, I felt as bad as I did over Christmas. And this morning I just wanted someone to shoot me and put me out of my misery.

I’ve been taking Zycam, a homeopathic remedy. I’ve been taking Tylenol cold. My nose is so sore from weeks of sneezing and blowing that even the softest tissue feels like sand paper. I have this idea that our house is like a germ incubator, and that anyone who values their health should just stay away.

Brendan even has a yeast infection from the antibiotics he was taking. I never knew males could get yeast infections until Brendan got his first ear infection as a baby. After treating the ear infection with antibiotics, he came down with a fiery, hateful-looking rash on his butt. The doctor said it was a yeast infection from the antibiotics. We were in disbelief. Now, any time he takes antibiotics, he gets an infection. It’s become par for the course.

On top of everything, Lynn had to take Josh to the emergency room on Friday because his blood pressure was dangerously elevated, according to the school nurse who saw him. After almost eight hours in the emergency room, he came home Friday night with medicine for his blood pressure and went straight to bed. Whether his illness was related to his cold or not, we aren’t sure, but we have to make an appointment this week with his doctor in Charlottesville. Given his history of kidney disease, it seems any change in his health is cause for immediate concern.

What is odd is that overall, it’s been a relatively cold winter so far. I always thought that warm winters were what incubated cold bugs. I guess that folk wisdom was proven incorrect in our case.