My latest adventure

And, no, I'm not talking about my LA adventure. I worked my ass off and was happy to get home around 1 a.m. on Thursday. I was so happy to finally sleep in my own bed and was looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Thursday afternoon, JP and I went to run a couple of errands. Whle we were out, I started feeling, "weird." About 35 minutes later, I was sick in bed with a high fever and feeling like a truck hit me. Ugh. The flu. Why didn't I remember to take my Airborne before getting on the plane.

I had all the classic signs of the flu -- body aches, high fever, chills, can't keep anything down, etc. By Sunday afternoon, JP was really worried and wanted to take me to urgent care. I kept telling him that it's just the flu and it just needs to run its course. Plus, his sister who is a doctor did say there was a flu going around. (Later learned that it was her idea to get me to urgent care since I wasn't getting any better several days later.)

By this time, I hadn't eaten in a few days, I coulnd't even keep water or juice down, and my fever was still really high. Sunday night, I finally asked JP to take me to the ER. If they could just give me a shot or something to get rid of this horrible, horrible flu.

Yeah. Not the flu. I learned that I had a serious bacterial infection and needed to be admitted to the hospital. Are you kidding me!?!?! A few hours (? -- I have had no sense of time over the last week or so) later, JP and I were headed to the hospital, where a bed was waiting for me. It ended up that I scored a nice corner suite -- literally. It was a nice, big private room and they allowed JP to stay with me.

It ended up that I had a strain of E. Coli. It usually starts with a UTI, then it moves to the bladder, the kidney and then the liver. It wasn't anything I ate or drank, and they only said that women are more prone to kidney infection because of anatomy and all the stuff that goes on down there. I was much sicker than I realized at the time. Kidney infection is very serious, but if it had gone on without being treated, it would have moved to my liver, which would then allow the bacteria to get into my blood stream. If that happens, it is very serious and it can be fatal. (Note to self: always listen to JP when he wants to take you to the ER)

When I got into the hospital, they put me on an antibiotic. It helped, but I was still pretty out of it. The test takes time to identify the bacteria and then test which antibiotic it is most senstive to. Once they identified that exact strain of E Coli and gave me the exact antibiotic, I started to perk up.

However, with my luck, that couldn't be all. I was finally starting to feel better and something happened with my IV. Somehow it was no longer going into my vein and was now going into the tissue. All of a sudden I noticed that my hand was twice the normal size. It took 1 1/2 days for it to go back down to normal. So, they had to poke and prod me again in the other hand to start a new IV line. Ugh. I HATE needles and this nurse wasn't the best at it...

Wednesday, I was finally ready to try solid foods. Oatmeal for breakfast. Check. All I wanted for lunch was corn flakes. Those were the best damn corn flakes I have ever eaten in my life! Since I was able to hold down food, I had the option of being released that night or wait until Thanksgiving. I opted to go home.

I don't remember much, but one thing I do know is how amazing JP was while I was sick. He only left my side to get food, grab a shower and get some clean clothes from home. He totally took care of me and I really realized how much he means to me and is a huge part of my life.

Still not 100% and I'm taking a few days off before heading back to work. Everyday I get a bit stronger and I'm looking forward to getting back to myself!!