Friday, January 2, 2009

2008 The year of sickness for our family

We are thankful that it was never anything serious needing a trip to the ER or hospital (except for the birth of Lamb 3), but someone in our family was sick much of 2008.

In February Lamb 1 and 2 were on antibiotics for the first time in their lives. They had Fifth Disease and Lamb 2 had an ear infection. I was pretty impressed that Lamb 1 was almost 4 and Lamb 2 was almost 2 years old before they ever took antibiotics.

In June Ram had a rash on his body. It took a long time to get into the dermatologist to find out it was a side effect of having something like strep. It finally cleared up a few months later.

In October we traveled to CA and when we got home we took turns having sore throats, colds, etc. Someone has been sick from October to December. We paid our co payment to the doctor a few times to be told to do all the things we were already doing-use humidifier, lots of liquids, lots of rest, etc. This has been frustrating for Ram as he can't go visit people as a pastor when he is sick.

In November Lamb 1 failed his hearing test so we were off to the doctor to find out he had fluid in his ear but no ear infection. The doctor recommended doing nothing but being rechecked in a few weeks. When we went back it was the opposite-ear infection but passed hearing test. The doctor doesn't know how he did that! When we returned in December for Lamb 1 to be rechecked to see if his ear was cleared up, then Lamb 3 had an ear infection. So then Lamb 3 took antibiotics for the first time.

About a week ago Lamb 1 had a fever and said his leg hurt, I think he was saying he was achy. Early this week Lamb 3 had a fever and threw up a few times. On New Years Eve Ewe got a fever and hurt all over. I was in bed with 3 blankets, coat, warm socks, beaver fur slippers, and hat and still was cold!

That was as sick as Ewe has been (with the exception of morning sickness) since about 8 years ago when I was teaching and I missed a few weeks of teaching with a terrible case of the flu. It was clear to me very soon that mamas aren't allowed to get sick! Lamb 3 still wanted to nurse (and he still wasn't feeling that well so he wanted to nurse MORE often). Lamb 1 was the best but Lamb 2 still needs lots of supervision, especially when he is near Lamb 3. I just wanted to stay in bed under the blankets, but I couldn't. Ram had to lead two church services. I took turns sitting on the couch and supervising the lambs playing together and then taking Lamb 3 to bed with me while Lamb 1 and 2 played. When Ram got home from church he fed the Lambs and put them to bed. They got to bed 2 hours past their bedtime because it took that long for him to make supper and then for the Lambs to eat and get pj's on etc.

I felt a little better yesterday but very weak. I feel like I can hardly carry Lamb 3 through the house. Today we all went to the chiropractor for an adjustment. Today I took a long nap and I still feel sick, but hopefully I'm getting better.

Ram has been wonderful the last few days-cooking, watching the boys, doing lots of dishes, keeping the house picked up, bringing Lamb 3 to me when it's time to nurse him, etc. Lamb 1 and 2 don't really understand Mama being sick, but they are doing the best they can at their ages.

Today we scheduled a recheck for Lamb 3 ears. We're hoping that this recheck is the last ear infection in our family for awhile. And we're praying that we stay more healthy during 2009. And we're thankful for the churches that pay for our health insurance for the doctors and chiropractor. Ram and the Lambs are very good about taking their vitamins. My goal for 2009 is to be better about taking my vitamins daily too.

Hopefully when I get more healthy I can post more. I've been under the covers but awake much of the past few days so lots of topics for posts are running through my head.

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