I always wonder how to start one of my updates. It seems like there is so much to say, but I’ve told a few people some of it, and it’s such an ongoing saga…

I guess I’ll start with why I’ve made this part 4 of a Chronic Pain series I wrote a few years back. I added it as part 4 because I’m being reminded of those times. Triggered is too strong a word, it’s not quite that bad. But yes, I’m remembering… (part 1 is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here)

Back to present day Casa Cuckoo, I’m still fighting the Cellulitis. I will complete the ten day course of clindamycin today, Saturday, and there has been zero improvement. In fact, the discoloration is moving up my leg. Not good. I saw my Primary Care doctor on Wednesday. He had all the results from the tests run at Emergency the previous Wednesday, which all came back clear or negative or whatever.

He agreed with the Cellulitis diagnosis and told me to continue the clindamycin. He also wrote a prescription for doxycycline to try after completing the clindamycin. The other option is to go back to Emergency and have them admit me for I.V. antibiotics.

Daughter says that if they admit me, I’ll be there 7-10 days. That is just a really, really bad idea. I want to avoid that if possible. Daughter would have to call out of work cuz there’d be no one to stay with Ben. The idea of the two of them butting heads for a week scares me. And Daughter doesn’t drive, so she’d have to order everything in. She has her BFF she can call for help, but her BFF is also a nurse who works 12 hour shifts, and like Daughter, loves her sleep.

Younger would help too, but she’s working full time, plus driving for delivery services just to make her bills and occasionally do something fun. Plus, the girls do NOT get along. I understand their reasons for disliking each other, even agree with some of them, but until/unless they both change some of their actions regarding the other, distance is best.

So, while I have gobs of emotional support from friends and Blog Buddies, THANK YOU!, I have almost zero practical, nearby support. A 7-10 day hospital stay is something I’d rather avoid.

I have been resting as much as possible, and taking the ginormous horsepill antibiotics. The resting part has been a bit difficult with Daughter’s work schedule. She worked Wednesday and Thursday nights, had Friday night off, and works tonight (Saturday), Sunday and Monday nights.

That means Ben and I driving her to work, then I get Ben bathed and off to bed. Then in the morning, I get me up and functioning, then get Ben up and ready for school, wait for the GLYSB and Daughter’s phone call to tell him she loves him, have a good day, etc. Once he’s on the bus I uncover Mr Sven and feed him, and drop kibble in Dogzilla’s bowl. I have about 15-20 minutes between GLYSB departure and time for me to go pick Daughter up from work.

The days start early at the Casa. The GLYSB arrives around 6:45am, so I’m usually up by 5:30am cuz it takes me a little while to become functional. With Ben’s sleep issues and my own, he could be up and have dressed himself at 3am, or he could be still sleeping and uncooperative at 6am. I could’ve gone to sleep as early as 10pm, or I could’ve been awake past midnight. I always wake up several times. It’s part of the Fibromyalgia, and even the prescription sleeping meds don’t entirely eliminate it.

So, I’m resting as much as I am able. There are still errands and chores and Service to HRH to handle as well. Plus, Mr Murphy is still having fun with me. I had to go pick Ben up at his school on Wednesday. The substitute bus driver said Ben was “being an unsafe rider” and went back and dropped him at school. WTF?! When I got there he ran at me with tears in his eyes, and wrapped his arms around me. Ben doesn’t cry. Ben doesn’t do big displays of emotion.

I didn’t stay around to talk to the office staff since he was so upset, so I still didn’t have the full story. I asked him about it on the drive home, and I think he was Scripting “angry words” in a loud voice and that is what got him dumped back at school. You’d think a driver with extra adult aides on a bus with a few, not Full, autistic kids would have some understanding, but I guess not. It was the same substitute on Thursday morning and he looked like he was a miserable person. Ben made it home on the bus that day, but I wondered if he was afraid to do anything on the ride home. Luckily there was a different sub on Friday.

But I am staying off my feet as much as possible. The biggest problem I’m having is the general feeling of fatigue and weakness. The pain and stiffness from the inflammation sucks, but pain in something I’m used to dealing with. What I’m NOT used to is feeling exhausted and like I’m gonna fall over multiple times a day.

I understand why I’m weak and fatigued. Obviously my body is busy fighting whatever this infection is, on top of the autoimmune disorder of Plaque Psoriasis and the Fibro/Chronic Pain. Just because I understand it, doesn’t mean I have to Like it. Especially since it brings back memories of when I spent three months bedridden, staring at the walls.

My mental health is still good at this point, but it is taking a battering. These memories are from one of the darkest times of my life. Not THE worst, but not good either. I guess it’s kinda lucky that Life is keeping me too busy to do much contemplating, or I might be worse off.

And I still have all the Fender Bender/insurance stuff to deal with. Never a dull moment at Casa Cuckoo!

And just to let you awesome dudes know, I have decided that if the discoloration continues, even after I start the doxycycline, and encompasses my entire calf, I will be going to Emergency and putting myself in their hands. It’s possible that since I live with a nurse, they could insert a PICC line and let me give myself the bags of antibiotics, but I’m not gonna count on that. I won’t ignore it. I won’t let it get WAY worse. I’m not septic yet, according to blood tests, so I have a little time to hope the doxycycline works.

So, that’s the latest. I may or may not do the regular SLS post. Brain Fog is heavy, and Life just doesn’t let up. I’m behind on emails and WP stuff… I’m still around here and there, but interruptions are a MAJOR thing at the Casa and my train of thought was wobbling on rusty, warped tracks before this latest development.

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HUGS!!!

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