Pneunomia

Last week on Thursday, I came home from work not feeling very well. All day I had the chills and then felt hot. I had so many household things to take care of so I dug in and got to work despite not feeling well. Finally, around 9PM while I was sweating buckets and doing the ironing, I took my temperature. It was 103! Yikes, I realized I really was sick. This was just the beginning of a very long and sweaty illness.

The rest of that night and all day Friday I did nothing but freeze for a few hours and then would be sweating with a high fever for a few hours. Then the process would repeat. At 8pm that evening when my temperature was 104.2, I had Brent take me to the emergency room. They did a chest x-ray and blood tests and everything was in the normal range. They said I could have a virus so I should get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids.

The next four days were the same as Friday: back and forth with high fever and chills. I had a blessing Saturday afternoon and was very hopeful that I would be well soon. However, after missing my 3rd day of work (Tuesday the 27th), I called my doctor's office to see if they could see me. They didn't have an opening until the next day at 4:20PM. I figured I would be in the emergency room by then or would be well. I made the appointment anyway.

That evening I had another priesthood blessing. In the blessing it said that I would be able to figure out where I should get treatment. Later that evening my fever was back to 103 and my head hurt really bad. I kept thinking to myself that the Emergency Room needed to run more tests, there was something they missed. I told Brent that I needed to go back to the ER even though it would cost another $150 copay.

The ER ran the tests again. This time they compared my chest x-ray from Tuesday with Friday and found that I had pneumonia. They did a CT Scan of my chest to confirm the diagnosis. I was grateful to have a diagnosis because then I could get treatment. I wasn't expecting to admitted to the hospital for a few days for that treatment. But it was just what I needed. On Friday the 30th I was released from the hospital with no more fevers! I have lots of medicines to take to clear out my lungs. I still have shortness of breath when I walk around the house but it is improving.

Brent did an amazing job running the household, taking care of the boys and running his business on the side. My ward family started bringing in meals this week too which was a big help. Thanks for all of your phone calls and prayers to get well. In a few weeks I should be back to normal.