Since David was out of town (of course...why is he always out of town when I get this sick?!), I set my gear to survival mode and spent the next couple of days resting and doing everything I could to get better. In addition to over-the-counter medicine, I employed every homeopathic method I could get my hands on. I gargled with salt water, avoided milk products, used saline nasal spray, inhaled warm steam, took Emergen-C and vitamins, cranked up humidifiers, diffused essential oils and rubbed them on my feet and spine, washed my hands endlessly, hydrated furiously, and tried hard to stay very still in the midst of all of that. I even took "detox baths" with epsom salt. I tried to get my hands on some elderberry pills everyone was raving about, but couldn't find any. By Friday, I was 100% convinced that, though I wasn't sure whether I had the flu, I knew without a doubt I had a serious sinus infection and I needed a good ol' fashion round of antibiotics.
After getting the kids off to school, I signed on the LiveHealthOnline, a service offered through David's insurance company. Within minutes I was connected on a video chat with a doctor that I was hoping would phone me in a prescription. Instead, I got a five minute lecture about the overuse of antibiotics and how "so-called sinus infections are usually caused by a virus and will clear up on their own in 1-2 weeks." He reminded me to do everything I was already doing. (Does anybody in the world not know that humidifiers, hydration, and rest are good when you're sick? Why do they feel the need to tell you that?!) It took all I could to disconnect the chat before calling him all of the ugly names swirling around in my painfully congested head.
I desperately did not want to go to a doctor's office or clinic to see someone in person. I didn't feel like waiting in the waiting room for hours and was afraid I'd pick up something worse. So, I let him convince me that he was right and I worked even harder at doing all I could to heal myself without antibiotics. After two more nights of basically cat-nap bouts of sleep, I woke up Sunday morning with day five of a fever. I fed the kids breakfast, left them with David, and drove to the urgent care clinic in the pouring, freezing rain in time to arrive when they opened at 8am. (And yes, I was secretly very relieved not to be running 9 miles in that weather.) I was second in line at the office. They were out of flu tests, but it didn't matter because I wouldn't have wanted Tamiflu anyway (it made me vomit last year.) The doctor diagnosed me with bronchitis (well, duh. What would a year without it be?!) and a severe sinus infection. Solution? Antibiotics and cough syrup. Huh. Well how about that?! They gave me a steroid "cocktail" in the office and a list of four prescriptions to get filled as soon as the pharmacy opened at 11am.
Fast forward a little bit: My fever broke yesterday afternoon. I slept five and a half straight hours last night for the first time in days. I am not out of the woods yet, but I am most definitely better. My bronchitis cough is still going strong and I know I'm going to have to be very careful if I want to avoid the Great Laryngitis Episode of 2017 when I lost my voice for three weeks.
Here's what I've learned from this experience: Yes, antibiotics are widely overprescribed and abused and that is a dangerous thing. Yes, my infection might have cleared up on its own in another week's time. Or it might have turned into pneumonia. I think homeopathic remedies have their place and can be a great alternative or pairing in a lot of situations. But sometimes there is no beating western medicine and a big fat dose of amoxicillin. At 35, I've learned the difference. Now I just need to remember it moving forward and be a better advocate for myself next time.
I hope all of you stay healthy and well and ask you to please join me in praying that Audrey and Luke do too! David is on the mend, but hasn't run a fever, so he's been able to rally and help. Hopefully he'll be back to 100% very soon too.
Notes from the kids (Luke's says "Cuddle Mommy...I wish I could") and a chart from him to describe my illness level "ick, better, even better, ready to play, all ready, wild Mommy (ready to play something wild), 100 percent." Not sure exactly where I am on the chart today, but I know that I'm definitely dying to hug and cuddle my babies again soon!
