...and the curse strikes again...

So I’m thinking about renaming our blog, “the blog of sickness.” Yes – we were once again struck with our “sick curse.” This time it had its eye on me. I had started feeling a bit icky before I went to bed on Saturday night, but didn’t think too much of it. By 3am though, my stomach was at war.

I had caught the stomach flu.

The hours that ensued were not pretty. I wasn’t able to hold on to anything even though I tried with all my might to sip fluids. I knew dehydration would come on quick (i.e my ER experience in Georgia) because I was nursing…and Will wanted to eat constantly because I wasn’t able to produce much since I was so sick. Annnnyway – by Sunday afternoon I call the Nurse Advice Line and they basically told me to treat myself at home and if my condition didn’t improve in 7 days to see a doctor. What?! Then they told me a list of symptoms that would warrant a trip to the ER…most of which I had…and had told them I had…but apparently they weren’t listening.

So I try to sweat it out for a few more hours.

By evening I knew I needed treatment. I couldn’t take care of the kids and I felt like I was going to collapse…not a good combination. My muscles were cramping terribly, I was dizzy, my heart was palpitating, I could barely stand up and of course I couldn’t hold on to anything. So my dear friend Monica found a friend to watch her kids and Luke and took Will and I to the Krankenhaus. They were very sympathetic and helpful there. They saw me right away and had medication in my hands within 20 minutes. I had a fever of 102, so they gave me something for that and then something to help my stomach calm down and then some electrolyte packets.

Monica offered to let the kids and I stay at her house that night, which was such a blessing. I was so afraid of passing out in my apartment and it really put my mind at ease to know someone was close by. Thank you so much Monica! You’re the best!

After taking the meds the doctor gave me I was able to hold down fluids. During the night my fever broke and by morning I knew I was on the mend. Praise God! Today I have had toast, crackers and plenty of fluids and am almost feeling like my old self.

I’ve almost given up on hoping that the furious cycle of illness will end…we seem to have some sort of cloud over our heads. But in the midst of it all, God has met all our needs – through great friends and family, lots of prayers and the German healthcare system. =)

Speaking of healthcare, tomorrow Will goes in for his 4 month well-baby appointment. I’ll report back with how that went. Luke goes in later this week just to get checked out since he’s been sick pretty much constantly for the last 4 months. We’ll see how that appointment goes. I’m sure they’ll just want to send me home, but I’d like them to do some blood work just to make sure there aren’t any underlying issues.

Alrighty, I’m off for now, but will post again soon. Chris just posted earlier today, so scroll down and check out his post if you haven’t already done so.

Here are a few pictures I took last week! I can't end a blog without pictures...=)