Life is always full of surprises and I feel like if you don't pay attention close enough you can easily miss little messages that can make a big impact on how you live.
When you are just going along living your life you most likely don't stop to really think about what might happen if you were to get life pausing sick. You probably don't think about how it might make you feel emotionally and psychologically either. At least I didn't until last month. Most of the time I think about stupid shit (yes I said shit on a mom blog) that does not even matter in the grand scheme of things.
I would say that I am a generally healthy person. I do have type 1 diabetes but I don't ever let that hold me back health wise. In fact before a month ago I hadn't been to a regular family doctor in about 10 years.
So here is the recent story...
On a random day about 7 weeks ago today I woke up feeling pretty horrible. Aw wahh poor me, but this was different. It felt like the flu...kind of. I took my temperature and it was 103. This was very bad sick timing since I had to pack our house and get ready to move. I brushed it off the best I could and just hoped it was one of those 24 or 48 hour things. Two weeks later my fever was still persistent and never went below 101. Now if you have had a fever before as an adult let me just say it sucks all the life out of you and you basically feel like you want to sleep all day. I decided it was time to end my hiatus of not seeing a doctor and made an appointment.
The doctor I saw was wonderful. He asked a million questions and checked me out completely. No sore throat, no ear infection no problems with my thyroid nothin....except a weird high fever and a constant crappy feeling. He told me to come back in a week if it was still there. Week four I went back. I started feeling worse and my fever was still high and persistent. At this point he really did not like this. He ordered dozens of blood tests, a pregnancy test (not pregnant woohoo) and just about everything else you can imagine.
A few days later my results came back. He called me personally. He said that everything came back completely normal. White blood cell count was great and I looked healthy as a horse according to my blood work. He said a fever that high and that persistent in an adult is not normal though and we would get to the bottom of this but as of right now he was diagnosing me with FUO (fever of unknown origin). I started googling and read that some people have FUO for years and they just had to live with it. Greaaattt.
I started to forget what it felt like to feel normal and healthy. So I just started doing everything I do anyways but with a fever and a constant crappy sick feeling. I realized how much I took advantage of the most important thing you have, your health. I missed running, really working out and just enjoying moments with my family where I didn't feel flu-y or fever-ish. I did some serious praying and asked God to please let me feel like my old self again.
About a week and a half ago I woke up and before getting out of bed realized I didn't have that weird fever feeling. It had been 6 weeks with a fever at this point. I got up and checked my temp. It was 98.7. The even better part was I felt normal, like get up and have a cup of coffee and maybe even go to the gym normal. I said a long thank you prayer and started my day with a little more enthusiasm than I ever have before.
This whole weird unexplained sickness and then super fast healing taught me a few life lessons that I never want to forget...
1) Your health is the most priceless thing you could possibly ever have. If you have your health you have everything. Things and material objects are nice but nothing compares to feeling and being healthy.
2) Do more of the things you love to do. Life is just too short to waste your time doing things you do not love to do. Same goes for people. Spend time with people who lift you up and you truly enjoy being around.
3) Do not complain about stupid stuff. There are bigger things in life to worry and complain about.
4) Be thankful for each day and enjoy the little moments with your family. At the end of the day the people in your house are the ones that are the most important and they will always love you, even at your worst.
I was unsure if I wanted to share this slightly personal experience on my blog but I feel like in the end it has changed me for the better. For that reason I found it important enough to share how this blur of a month impacted my life and made me realize things I might have taken for granted before.
25 comments:
Glad to hear you are feeling better!! :-) x
I think this is so true!! People who take their health for granted don't realize what it's like to experience pain! I think the same about people who can have kids right away too!! They don't realize what a blessing that is either xoxo so glad you are ok!
Glad you are feeling better, and a good reminder to live a thankful life
Glad you are feeling better Lindsay. It is true, when life is going great we tend to take so many things for granted until the switch flips the other way. We need to remember to be thankful to God for the goods times, and not just go to Him in our time of need. Thanks for the gentle reminder!!
Hi Lindsay, I normally just read your blog without commenting but I had those exact same thoughts last night after recovering from a pretty bad infection and I wanted to thank you for sharing this. We definitely cannot take our health for granted! As for the fever, did your doctor ever test you for West Nile virus? My dad had an unexplained fever for weeks with no other symptoms and this is what they finally discovered after many, many tests. You get it from a mosquito bite and there is no treatment, you just have to wait it out.
Thanks for sharing. So happy to hear you're feeling better. Stories like these help others realize the importance of being healthy, especially when you have to make sure your little babes are healthy too!
Hi Lindsey,
A friend turned me on to your blog and I've been following with great enjoyment for some time. Just wanted to say thanks for posting this - it's nice to hear it from someone else! It really is to easy to take a lot of things for granted, and a little reminder of that is never unwelcome!
Thank you so much for sharing. It's personal stories like these that make a blog worth reading. So glad you're feeling better! Thank you for the reminders of what's important in life. And thank you for saying "shit" on a mom-blog ;)
So glad you're feeling better...must've been rough feeling like crap and still chasing 2 kiddos around all day long! :/ Also, thank you for the reminder to not take things like our health for granted and to give thanks for everything!
What a crazy story! Glad you're finally feeling better. I can't imagine feeling crappy and feverish for 6 weeks! Such good advice to do more of what you love and be thankful for every healthy moment.
Wow, how scary to not know what's going on in your body! Isn't it funny how little life reminders come right when we need them?
That kind of stuff always scares the sh*t out of me! ;) I was diagnosed with meningitis a couple of years ago and it took the doctors FOREVER to figure out what was wrong...I'm talking brain scans, spinal tap, etc. Ew. The not knowing was the worst part, so I can only imagine how you've been feeling. Glad you're feeling better!! xo
Thanks for the great reminder! Glad to hear you are well again!
Thanks for sharing the REAL stuff that happens in your life! And I love your attitude... that you are healthy (even with diabetes). To those of us feeling yuck about diabetes it's so inspiring to read how much it is such a part of your normal life that you don't even let it feel like an illness/impairment. And I"m so glad you're feeling better! The sun is so bright and life feels so great after a brush with illness.
I love that saying. I'm glad you're feeling back to your old self! :)
Congratulations on regaining your health. You're right; we can't enjoy our life to the fullest without good health.
This is really motivating! A great post to read in the morning. Thank you for sharing this experience. I will think about this today and not take my health for granted!!
this is so crazy. I had a similar experience but not with fever. It was with nausea. In fact it was classic pregnancy symptoms but I was not pregnant. Everyday around 3pm I started to feel light headed and nauseous. But I never threw up. On my commute home i would feel so sick. Walking inside from the bus or my car was horrible, and I would lay down as soon as possible when I got in the door. After 30 min or so of rest I would manage to make dinner and shortly after dinner more rest and then I would feel better. I tried everything---eating a bigger lunch, taking all kinds of meds, ect, and nothing worked. I went to the dr 4 times and she gave me heartburn medication (what!?) and finally she told me to go to a digestion specialist which didn't help either. Finally a few weeks ago I just magically started feeling better. I so appreciate feeling good now!
Great post, thanks for sharing with us :)
THANK YOU for sharing. So glad you are better! I actually read this while giving my self an at home infusion (I have to do a weekly medical treatment for the rest of my life but it helps me feel normal so no complaints here). After a lifetime of medical setbacks and now, the inspirational clients I work with as a social worker, your post resonates more than ever. All so true.
Hey there! Just stopping by to let you know that I nominated you for the Sunshine Award because I love reading your posts :) Check it out: http://homegrownhostess.com/2013/11/10/sunshine-award/
love your honesty. I cant even imagine being not %100 with kids. I mean moms don't get breaks let alone sick days lol
aww mama that sounds horrible! we were all sick with whatever plague is going around, and i was only down for a day. it was rough. you're a trooper, and i'm so glad god answered your prayers. he's amazing!
xo jenna
sweet grace
Wow Lindsay! I'm SO happy to hear that you are back to feeling well again! I can't imagine having a fever for that long, because you are right, adult fevers are SO draining! Very thankful to see that all is well again!
We recently moved too (still unpacking and organizing) so I have been a little behind on my reading. I'm so happy you're feeling better! I hope your family has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I'm sure some of your Paleo treats will be at our table.
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