The past week – actually a bit longer now – I’ve been a woman down.

Initially (last week) I thought it was a flu situation – even today my body is insanely achy – but by Sunday it was clear that something else was going on.

If you were here through all my hospitalizations, surgeries, and infections, you know that I will do anything to avoid the emergency room.

(I realize no one wants to go – but I sincerely, with all kinds of residual medical anxiety, hate it.)

That said, as I was driving to urgent care Sunday, I realized I needed more testing and care than they could offer – and I went to the ER instead.

When I arrived, I had a briefly terrible experience with a student trying to start an IV without my consent.

(I don’t allow anyone to “practice” on me these days because people with CRPS require caution and care when it comes to lab draws and IV sticks. An errant stick can lead to a massive CRPS flare and spread – a terrifying thought.)

It was a bad stick – and I quickly got the nurse who would be caring for me to start my line instead.

From there, my care was excellent, with a great nurse and a fantastic doctor as well.

After meds for pain and nausea as well as labs and all the tests, it was determined that I had a kidney infection.

I was given stout antibiotics – and sent home on one I actually haven’t taken before (rare to find).

Since then, I haven’t left home – and I’m still just exhausted.

Even today, I still feel so flu-y that it hurts to lift my arms. This has really been a nasty ailment.

Also there are a few thoughts I’ve had for this space because of this episode:

• I honestly had forgotten about the whole ordeal of an ER visit for a chronically ill person, in terms of packing a bag and taking records and whatnot. I wondered if it might be helpful to share a post here with a list of the items for a sort of “care bag” because, unfortunately, sometimes the ER is just part of the spoonie life.
• Would a post be helpful about when to consider the ER versus what is just a regular flare? (I know it’s a difficult call to make sometimes – especially when we really don’t want to go, even if we need to.)
• Finally, with this illness – as well as some other issues I’ve been dealing with recently – I am needing to make several specialist appointments. Would a post about organizing our significant records and preparing for different specialties be useful?

As rundown as I still feel, I will likely be home recovering for a while longer.

I am so grateful for my people and puppies who are taking such good care of me.

As always, onward.

Be well, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Grace and Blessings.