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mommy mommy mommy
The title of this post describes the events that occurred in my life this past Thursday night.
After the Hardworking Hubby left for work Thursday night, I finished watching my show and decided it was time to head to my desk and get some work done. About 10 minutes after sitting down at my desk, my stomach began to hurt in a very, very bad way. I thought I just needed to use the bathroom, so I excused myself from a conversation on Gmail Chat with @Blm03 and off I went.
After that….things get a little blurry.
I went to the bathroom.
I got very warm and dizzy.
The right side of my face started to stuff up.
Then it got hard to breathe.
Then my entire right side kind of went limp.
It’s really hard to describe.
All of this happened while I was sitting on the toilet.
I know….such a beautiful picture to paint.
Next thing I know I smacked my head on the wall/window frame because I blacked out.
I was beyond dizzy and couldn’t focus my vision.
It was pretty damn scary.
I had Zman call my dad and have my dad call 911 and get over to my house.
I knew something wasn’t right.
From there, I went to a stretcher into an ambulance. (Can’t wait to get that bill!)
I was having such a hard time breathing that I needed oxygen and my blood pressure was really low.
Once I got to the hospital I went through a series of tests and bloodwork.
It was soooo much fun.
I got an IV to administer fluids and some meds.
About 4 hours later, I finally got to leave.
Diagnosis….intestinal bleed and bowel infection.
NOT FUN.
I would not wish this on anyone.
Little did I know that I had been passing blood in my stools (EWWWW!!!!)
This is what led to my blood pressure dropping…or so I’ve been told.
So, now I sit at home taking some lovely antibiotics to fight the infection.
I am happy to report that I am starting to feel A LOT better!!!
Thanks to everyone who checked in with me on Facebook and Twitter after Zman reported his mom was in the hospital.
XOXO
In all honesty, I wish I could paint a prettier picture of how my Christmas vacation went down, but the title really sums it up.
I went to bed the night of Christmas Eve eve with a twinge of pain in my left ear. By the morning of Christmas Eve while sitting on the love-seat at my in-laws home, the pain became more uncomfortable. By the time we had opened presents at their house, driven 30 minutes north to my husbands grandmothers house, eaten meat pie, taken a brief nap and opened gifts, the pain was becoming a burden on my day. After the 30 minute drive back home, then back up north to retrieve my camera and the hubby’s phone from grandma’s house and not to forget that 30 minute drive back home, the pain was unbearable.
So, I did what any good mom, wife, and daughter-in-law would do, I down some Vicodin, a penicillin and put a few drops in my ear and laid down to get a little nap in before the festivities were to continue.
When I awoke just over 2 hours later, I admit, I felt pretty damn good. That could have just been the drugs causing me to hallucinate but I sucked it up and off to my in-laws house we went to have Christmas with the rest of the family.
As the evening progressed, and the drugs began to have zero effect on me, I realized that I was having a hard time hearing out of my left ear at this point and it was swollen. I’m not talking like bruised swollen, this is like hit me with a baseball bat swollen.
By 11:30PM Christmas Eve, I was in the ER.
By 1:30AM, I was at home drugged, playing Santa Claus.
By 1:32AM, I was in bed passed out.
When I woke up on Christmas morning with the family to open the gifts Santa had left under the tree, the pain was unreal.
I watched the kids open their presents and then promptly crawled back into bed.
After a 3 hour nap, I got up, showered, got nauseated, prayed to the porcelain god and got dressed.
At noon, we pulled up at my parent’s house.
I slept through most of the events.
I was awake long enough to open presents and take a moment to puke once again before curling back up on their couch and passing out until after dinner.
From there, the Hardworking Hubby brought me back to the ER.
Yes, the infection was indeed getting worse.
I left the ER with a wick in the left ear, swelling in the right and enough pain meds to knock out the entire US Army.
Once we got home, I was back in bed only to return to the ER for the THIRD time the next day upon instructions of the nurse my hubs talked to on the phone because even with all the meds, I was getting worse.
From there it was back to the ER, a new antibiotic and more pain meds later that I returned home, took a nap and woke up a few hours later finally feeling some relief!
The next morning, Monday, I went to see my family doctor who sent me to the ENT.
The ENT’s thoughts—WORST OUTER EAR INFECTION HE HAD EVER SEEN!
So, after an intense and traumatizing cleaning of the ears and a wick in each in addition to more drugs, we were sent on our way with an appointment to return in 2 days.
(Side note: The traumatic cleaning of the ears in where the maxipads come into play, who knew that such a thing could cause Aunt Flow to stop by for a very unexpected visit almost 2 weeks early!)
Now, I sit here today, exactly one week after my first trip to the ENT having just returned home from what I hope was my last.
My ears are finally feeling better, the pain is just about gone, my left ear is great, the right is still struggling to hear at 100%, I’ve downed more percocet in the last week then I probably will the remainder of my life and am finally beginning to feel like myself again.
Moral of the story: Q-Tips are BAD!
This past Friday, the Hardworking Hubby and I took the kids on a much need day trip/vacay to beautiful Door County Wisconsin.
For those of you who know nothing of Door County, let alone Wisconsin, let me fill you in.
Door County is like The Hamptons of Wisconsin.
It’s filled with quaint little towns with names like Egg Harbor, Ephraim, Fish Creek and many more.
It’s the place college students live for ‘the season’ while they are working in a shop, hotel, restaurant or serving up ice cream at Wilson’s Restaurant.
People travel from near and far to visit one of Wisconsin’s best tourist attractions and it just happens to be one of my favorite places to go in this great state.
It’s surrounded by water and over 300 miles of shoreline and it’s beautiful!
A must see for anyone who is visiting Wisconsin.
For us, a 45 minute car ride finds us entering Door County a drive I can more than handle.
The kids were beyond excited to go and check out all the cool sites I had been telling them about.
We started our trip overly prepared for any little mishap.
Armed with the credit card, extra clothes and munchies for all.
We departed Green Bay and headed off to our first destination, The Farm, in Sturgeon Bay.
Once we arrived, we did a quick diaper and clothing change on Tatertot who had covered himself in banana bread crumbs during the first lag of the trip.
After doing a once over on everyone else, we were off to see the animals.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
As you can see, a good time was had by all.
After an expensive stroll through the gift shop, we grabbed our trinkets and packed everyone back into the family minivan.
Once again, we were off.
Our next destination, Cave Point Park .
This was a great place for some photo ops but the Mommy in me had her heart jump in her throat, snapped a few pics and we were gone.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After successfully removing my heart from my throat, we were off to Whitefish Dunes State Park to do some swimming in Lake Michigan and playing in the sand along the beach.
The kids had more fun than I thought they would and apparently, swimming in Lake Michigan is way better than ever going to Florida, so I just saved myself thousands of dollars and am out of planning a trip to Disney!
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After over an hour of playing in the water and on the beach and a large supply of rocks from the bottom of Lake Michigan, it was time for us to pack up the wagon, get changed and continue our journey through Door County.
I had sand in my hair, ear, down my shirt and all over my face thanks to the adorable Tatertot but it was worth it.
Once the van was loaded up, we continued on HWY 57 through all the cute little towns on to our next destination, lunch, in Ephraim.
On the way, we got a glimpse of some people para-sailing, and some other cool sites.
Along the way, this happened:
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
About 20 minutes later, we arrived in Ephraim and decided it was time to get some chow.
The family voted, Summer Kitchen it was.
Everyone enjoyed sipping sodas out of jar mugs and looking around at the artwork.
We left with full bellies, $100 less and some kooky photos of Zman and Drama Queen.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
As we had been sitting at lunch, we were explaining to the kids that we were not far from the ’Tip of the Thumb’, Gills Rock.
The kids thought it was pretty cool when we arrived in Gills Rock and couldn’t drive any further.
We were surrounded by water and it was pretty cool to see.
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
After checking out the little gift shops on Gills Rock, we departed with our one purchase of new pink goggles for the Drama Queen, turned the van around and headed back down the thumb.
We stopped off at farmer’s market store and purchased some dip mixes, then headed back to Ephraim, ice cream at Wilson’s Restaurant was waiting for us.
2 double scoop Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion waffle cone, 1 double scoop Sneakers and Caramel Collision waffle cone, a single scoop of Chocolate Chip in a sugar cone and a dish of Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion later we found ourselves sitting on the porch of Wilson’s licking up the ‘scream and enjoying every minute of our day together.
We had survived Door County!
All that was left was to pop into a few more shops on the way down and pick up some souvenirs.
We had purchased a t-shirt for Tatertot earlier in the day at The Farm, snatched up cool shirts for Zman and Drama Queen, some mood and seashell rings and sailor knot bracelets and then headed home.
On our return trip, we made one last stop because the kids thought it was only appropriate to have proof that they had been:
(Click on picture to enlarge for better viewing)
However, by the time we arrived, I was the only one who would get out of the car, as everyone else was exhausted.
All in all, everyone had a great day and we are looking forward to doing it again soon!
What’s your favorite family getaway close to home?
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(And my BADASS 2012 Avitable calender)
