From Conjunctivitis to Bronchitis

If you saw my brief “On Sick-Leave” post last Tuesday, you know I was too sick to even write anything.  Am I 100% today?  Definitely not, but I decided I could sit in my desk chair and type some strokes on my computer.

Let me begin by saying that I am virtually never sick.  About 10 years ago, I was terribly sick from a nasty flu bug I picked up from the care facility Dale had just moved into.  They shut the whole thing down the day after I got sick!  I never even got COVID.

So, I preface all of this by saying I don’t have a ton of patience as a patient. But I hope there are at least a few lessons to draw from this two-week+ ordeal (and counting).

Here’s the winding timeline that brought me down this tough road:

• On Sunday, May 10^th, my left eye started to turn red.  I’ve had a few bouts with conjunctivitis (pink eye) in the past, so I wasn’t too concerned.  I just used extra natural tears and regularly applied a hot compress.
• By Thursday afternoon, it was an inflamed mess – and incredibly sore.
• Friday morning, I immediately got into my eye doctor’s office where I was prescribed an eye ointment and Augmentin.  I had an inflamed eyelid, a horribly inflamed stye, along with conjunctivitis.
• About 24 hours later, on Saturday, I went from excruciating pain in my eye to zero pain!  Hallelujah!  Thank you God for healing me so quickly!
• Not so fast.  That was just one of the times I “turned a corner” only to find something worse lurking around that bend.
• By Saturday evening, May 16^th, I had such severe heartburn that I was in tears, begging God for relief. Of course it was the weekend, and I dreaded the thought of spending endless hours in an ER unless things became truly critical.
• It didn’t let up.  I was in pain the entire night and did not sleep, waiting to get into urgent care on Sunday morning.
• By Sunday morning, the pain had eased just enough for me to drive to urgent care. Another corner turned? The doctor suspected the Augmentin was causing severe digestive side effects, so he switched me to a different antibiotic since the eye infection still required treatment.
• By Sunday afternoon, the severe pain was back. I called urgent care and was told the Augmentin was likely still affecting my system.
• Over the next couple of days, the pain remained intense despite the medication changes. Meanwhile, my sleep dwindled to just 2–3 hours a night, and the irritating cough that had been overshadowed by the digestive pain started becoming more pronounced.
• By Friday, May 22nd, it was clear that something more serious was going on than lingering side effects from the antibiotics.
• Because of the holiday weekend, I called to get into my primary care doctor and –  miracle of miracles – she could see me Friday afternoon.
• She diagnosed me with bronchitis along with severe sleep deprivation. She prescribed a Z-pack and some Unisom, along with continuing the Mucinex DM I had already started taking.
• First night on Unisom, I slept 4-5 hours.  Hallelujah again!  Another corner turned!
• Not so fast…again.  The next night (Saturday), the coughing got worse and I was literally awake all night long.
• It takes a few days for the Z-pack to kick in, so Sunday I just patiently (?) waited for something to get better.  In addition to the physical toll these two weeks had taken, I was emotionally spent and struggling not to take a flying leap down into the pity party pit!
• That brings us to Sunday night into Monday morning — Memorial Day. The good news is that I slept about five hours last night, and the coughing finally seems to be subsiding.
• I’m still incredibly weak, but I’m grateful to say I’m not in pain anywhere.
• Have I turned another corner?  No idea.  Praying God has decided I’ve had enough of this – for now!

If you made it through that long saga, thanks for hanging in there with me!

I’d like to say I had some deep, spiritual awakening because of all this.  Instead, I want to share some random thoughts that came to me throughout this 2-week journey.

• It’s HARD to be sick alone!  I missed Dale SO much these past two weeks.  No one to walk beside me every step of this miserable journey.
• That said, I had great friends who offered to bring me food, medication, anything I needed.  Unfortunately, I was mostly eating bland stuff I already had in the house.  But I so appreciated those who checked in regularly, and ached along with me.
• While these have been difficult days, I know there are many who suffer longer and deeper than I did. I was keenly aware of this, even as I went through those hard days.  My suffering shouldn’t be minimized, but I can also be grateful that it wasn’t worse.
• My calendar for these two weeks was wide open.  I had one appointment that Saturday afternoon in-between miracle eye healing, and the crash and burn heartburn!  I had planned to start my major Spring cleaning but that was easily tabled until I could get my strength back.
• Even without full healing, I am already more thankful for the days I have my health!  The old adage applies – we don’t appreciate what we’ve got until it’s gone.
• I’m grateful for Amazon same-day delivery!
• Surprisingly, my prayer life was all over the map.  Definite pleading with God during the most acutely painful times.  And feeling grateful when those corners looked healthy.  But in between those, I found myself almost on autopilot.  I was so physically and emotionally drained that my prayer life was minimal.  That makes me sad and I don’t have a good explanation for it.  I’ve talked with God about it, and asked forgiveness for not spending more of this downtime in prayer and study. Thank goodness I had friends praying for me!

This has been a longer than usual post.  I don’t know if more insights will become clear as I, hopefully, reach full healing.  If so, you can be sure you’ll all read about them in the days ahead.

Thanks for listening!

But those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31