Chickafinty ~ A Life in the Laundry

How typical.

It's the first day of the holidays and I am sick.

Great.

Just great.

No school today

Both my little chickies are sick.  They've both got nasty coughs, he more so than she.  They are supposed to be snuggled up in their blankets on the lounges watching tv, but he's here beside me, moaning, groaning and "But I want to snuggle with you".

So this is me signing off on a blog post and wandering off to do the needful for a couple of sick little chickens.

 

I love my kids (and probably TMI)

Had a terrific day on Monday...started off on my list and rocked through the first eight items before the blah** set in.

Woke up just after midnight on Tuesday morning feeling distinctly nauseated.  Kept waking every 20 minutes or so making it the l-o-n-g-e-s-t night in Christendom, worried that I was going to be sick.  By 6am I was worried that I *wasn't* going to be sick.  By 6.30 that problem had resolved itself in the bath of all places as Mister Bear was occupying the other logical place.  Yes, I had a bucket, but when it all happened there was too much and too violent to be contained (I warned you that it might be TMI!)

Wandered wanly to the lounge - with the bucket - feeling horrible.  Everything ached.  My tummy felt yuck.  I wanted to go away somewhere and just die in the corner.  Mister Bear had to go to work and both kids were still asleep.

Chickabid woke up and came for a cuddle.  I told him that I was feeling sick.  He disappeared and returned with a blanket and a pillow and tucked me in on the lounge.  "I'm sorry you're sick, sweetie"  He sat by my head and said soothing things and cuddled and what not.  He was wonderful.

I had to leave the lounge in a hurry for Round 2.  Chickabid got so worried that he grabbed my mobile and rang Daddy to please come home cos Mummy is sick.  I reassured Daddy that I was fine - Mum and Dad were on their way - and discovered that Ladybaby was up as well.  Ladybaby's response to someone vomiting is usually to have hysterics, but thankfully yesterday she didn't.  Had to have a shower...you can probably guess why.

I got back to the lounge and was tucked in again, now with two blankets and two pillows as Ladybaby had chipped in with hers as well.  Chickabid got in the shower without being asked and dressed himself for school.  So did Ladybaby.

Next thing I can hear the microwave bipping.  Chickabid set the clock for 15 minutes and told me that he was just going to clean the kitchen for 15 minutes and then he'd be back.  I could hear him fussing around, filling the sink and washing the dishes!  He's only 7.  Ladybaby did a dishes-round## of her own accord - she's only 5.  They both collected their fruit and snack and were ready to pack their lunch bags.  Without being asked.  I was so very, very proud.

Mum and Dad came and finished off all the getting ready for school bits.  Dad cleaned the kitchen while Mum took the kids to school and then they all left me in peace on the lounge for the day.  It would have been bliss except for feeling so very ill.

Mum and Dad collected the kids after school and we packed their overnight bags.  The kids went off for a sleepover at Gran and Grandpa's.  Mister Bear got home at 6.30 and did the fastest ever clean of the loungeroom, including vacuuming cos Tuesday night is home group night at our house, and got some dinner for himself and dry toast for me.  The dry toast stayed put and I went to bed.  Slept for 10 hours and now I feel great.

I am so proud of the kids!!  They were kind and compassionate.  They were gentle and thoughtful.  They astounded me with their understanding and consideration for others.  I am proud to call them my son and daughter.

** blah - a state of no energy, no get-up-an-go, no puff; an inability to think, plan or organise.  Happens quite often.

## dishes-round - collecting up all the dishes from the house to load in the dishwasher.  This was Ladybaby's special job before she went to school and the thing she worried about most.  "Who will do the dishes-round when I'm at school?"  Ummm, me?  "You can't do a dishes-round!"  Oh, can't I indeed?? LOL

Monday, Monday

The confiscated ones arrived home yesterday after church.  We both missed them badly but discovered about 10 minutes after Mum and Dad left that we definitely weren't missing them anymore!  I've got lots of posts floating around in my head waiting to be written, but finding the time and having the patience to sit down and write them is proving a challenge.

Am still feeling very ill indeed and ended up napping for about 2 hours this afternoon on the lounge even though the kids were making the most dreadful ruckus. 

Here's some snippets from Chez Us

- Chickabid has discovered jigsaw puzzles and apparently loves them.  So do I.  They take a long time to finish.  He's quiet while he does them.  We are grateful for small mercies.  Chickabid is the most wonderful little boy, but he is LOUD!

- Ladybaby was watching Gran take out her medications yesterday morning at breakfast.  Ladybaby spotted that one of the meds was an evening one and not for the morning and pointed it out to Gran.  Ladybaby was right.  A few points to note:

a) Ladybaby can't read yet

b) all the meds are white

c) she was identifying them by their shape and size

d) she's memorised Gran's meds!

- Mister Bear's investigations went well.  There are no clear abnormalities, no cancer/tumours/anything dodgy, but he does appear to have some swallowing issues with the normal rhythmic movement of the oesophagus getting out of kilter periodically.  It seems that the condition is not curable so it is a case of managing it.

For Amy - updated

Praying today for Amy, Brandon and Garry as Amy's condition has taken a turn for the worse.  Praying that God's will be done and that they all have the strength to face this together.

By the time I wrote this, Amy had gone to be with the Lord she loved and served so faithfully even during the worst of her illness.  In February the doctor's gave her two months.  By God's grace she had seven more months with her loved ones.

I am so sad for them in losing their beloved wife, mother and daughter.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, 'I believed, and so I spoke,' we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." -

2 Corinthians 4:5-18

These verses have been on Amy's blog since the beginning.  Her belief was not in a God of health, wealth and good times, but in a God who undertakes even in the worst of times.  She was afflicted, but not crushed.  She was puzzled...why me, why now?, but not despairing.  Death was sure at work in her, but through that death she finally received life everlasting.  I pray that when my time comes I can persevere in strength, courage and peace.

Alone again

Mister Bear is in hospital again tonight.  It turns out that he does have sleep apnea - he stops breathing and chokes about 15 times an hour!!  He's being fitted for a CPAP mask tonight and in about a week or so we get to have one for ourselves.  Chickabid was in floods of tears again leaving the hospital, but he's gasbagging cheerfully on the phone with Grandma right now so I think he must have recovered a bit.

More later.

The cave is warm and cozy

I am sitting in the cave today.  Haven't been anywhere near the cave for a long, long time, but from the moment I woke up this morning, I knew it was a cave day.

Didn't run yesterday as Mum and Dad were here and there simply wasn't time.  My iPod arrived yesterday but <shamefaced confession> I couldn't undertsand how to work it.  I burned the Week 2 podcast onto a cd instead and went trundling up the street at the crack of dawn only to discover that it didn't burn properly and 3/4 of the workout just wasn't there.

I came home and started breakfast, but discovered that I hadn't set the dishwasher last night and it was still full of dirty, stinky dishes.

The cat decided that the top of the kitty litter was the best place for his morning contribution so that had to be cleared up before I did anything else.

I set Mister Bear's porridge to cook on the stove and promptly forgot about it until Mum got out of the shower and found it merrily burning away on the stove top.

At that point, I gave up.  Today is not a good day.  The omens are so bad that I am not coming out to play.

There is a glimmer of good news and hope though.  Mister Bear's LFTs came back with an improvement, not a decline.  He *might* be beginning to road to recovery.  He's in downtime right now - the three hour break between work periods - and when I have finished this, we're going to sit in the lounge room and play Trivial Pursuit.  This is another good sign.  He's restless and can't settle to anything passive like reading, but too fatigued to do anything that requires effort.  I know it doesn't sound like it, but this is a POSITIVE SIGN.  He might, just might, be getting better.  For his sake, I hope so.  Life is totally sucky for him right now.

360 degrees

Mister Bear and I had a serious talk the other afternoon.  We had to talk seriously about what I am going to do workwise as I *have* to go back to work as soon as my LSL is used up on June 13th.  It's not what either of us wanted and it definitely wasn't in the plan, but the plan doesn't matter now.  We have to deal in realities.

I made a phone call this afternoon and the upshot is that I may be able to get a new job, with a faint possibility that it could be sooner rather than later.  In two-and-a-half months I've gone 360 degrees; from working to not working, and back to working again.

It's a funny old life.

Encouraging news

We went to see Mister Bear's regular doctor last night and she has proposed some treatment for him.  It sounds a bit unusual but apparently there is a growing body of anecdotal evidence that intravenous vitamin C may be effective in treating fatigue.  At the moment, Mister Bear is classified as suffering from post-viral fatigue syndrome...you have to have PVFS for more than 6 months to qualify for a disgnosis of CFS.  The doctor has recently had great success with a patient after only two vitamin C treatments, so today he has the first of two treatments to see how he goes; the other will be on Friday.

We are so desperately hoping that this will provide some answers and a cure.  We've weathered PVFS before and we will weather it again.  I'll take Mister Bear whatever way he comes, but it would be wonderful for him to be able to resume a normal life again.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

Mister Bear has gone to work today and he definitely shouldn't be.  It is heart breaking to have to watch him struggling up the ramp at the station to get to the train.  His shower this morning completely wore him out and he should probably rest for about 2 hours before trying to do anything that requires energy, but he was insistent about going to work.  What he's going to do when he gets to the hill between the station and his work is anybody's guess.  If they can't see at work that he's ill, then they need eye transplants.  I'm going to start picking him up from the opposite side of the station so that he doesn't have to negotiate the stairs or the ramp on the homeward journey.  If this continues on much longer we're going to have to go with the wheelchair option again.  I was tempted to get a wheelchair at the plaza yesterday when we went to the doctor's, but I couldn't do it.  Getting a wheelchair means accepting that our lives are about to change big time and there is a part of both of us that is still hoping that he's going to wake up "tomorrow" feeling better.

We're not sitting around this time letting CFS just happen.  Mister Bear had a vitamin B12 shot yesterday at the doctor's and I've got him on a daily vitamin regimen; evening primrose oil/fish oil tablet, magnesium supplement and a liver detox pill.  He's been instructed to have at least one glass of fresh orange juice a day to bolster his vitamin C intake and the Dr has recommended a really healthy diet.  I'm trying to eliminate as much processed food as I can from our diet and we're going fresh or made from scratch on most things.  That way I know what's in our food exactly.

Am feeling very guilty right now because I have a suspicion that a particular product may be a contributing factor in this illness.  We have been drinking a lot of a certain carbonated substance sweetened with aspartame, which *may* trigger CFS/fibromyalgia in susceptible persons.  The jury is out in the scientific world on this one, but for the time being all such carbonated substances have been banned in the house.  I am trying to encourage him to drink a lot of water to flush any toxins out of his system.

My big task for the remainder of this week is emptying the study, getting a phone point put in, painting it, hanging curtains and then setting up the workstation so that Mister Bear can work from home from now on if his work is agreeable.  I'm going to have to put my pride and independence to one side and accept help from others.  I can't accomplish all of that on my own, but I have to do it in such a way that it doesn't become an extra burden on top of Mister Bear.

Our lives are about to change.  The way that we do everything is about to be modified.  All our plans, such as they were, are in tatters and will have to be replaced with new plans.