Thursday, September 29, 2011

Recovering

Rest & Relaxation

Okay time to break the radio silence that has engulfed my blog! *grin*

My keyboard feels foreign beneath my fingertips after all this time away. It's like riding a bike though, you never forget right? Plus I have SO many photos that I have wanted to share but just haven't been able to get here to post them :)

I guess it was probably a few days after my last blog entry on my homemade rhubarb juice back in June when I suddenly became seriously ill. At first I thought I had just caught a really nasty bug but when my one leg turned flaming red and swelled up three times it size and felt like it was on fire I knew something was terribly wrong. I was in and out of the hospital ER for a week getting IV antibiotics while they tried to figure out what had happened but when all the tests came back normal they ended up telling me that they figured I had been bitten by a spider.

Okay I can go with spider bite but my leg didn't go fully back to normal and I just didn't feel like myself. A lot of the time it was all I could do to get through the day without dropping from exhaustion and sitting at the computer was painful for my leg so the summer was spent unplugged which I must say was really nice :) When Hubby was home from work we did a lot of camping and I lounged beside the lake with my feet up while he took care of everything. He's so good to me *grin*.

It probably was mid August before I started feeling more energy and like my old self again and I thought, yay, it's finally over.... I was mistaken.

We were out camping at one of the forestry lakes about an hour from the city at the beginning of this month when I woke up one night shaking and having uncontrollable spasms. I felt like I was going to have a seizure and I could hardly talk. I woke up Hubby and he said we had to go to the emergency room immediately. The kids were sleeping but thankfully one of our friends and his son had came out that day to join us camping so we woke him up at 2:30 am to come over and sleep in our camper so that we could leave the kids behind.

The ride just to get back to the highway seemed impossibly long. I think Hubby thought I wasn't going to make it and we were so far from help. There is absolutely no cell service anywhere around here so he couldn't even call for help :(

A little over an hour later we arrived at the hospital and they told me I had a fever of 103.5 and the mysterious leg ailment was back. The nurses swarmed around me as I shook uncontrollably on the gurney taking blood, hooking up iv's and trying to get my fever and shaking to stop. I don't know when I finally fell asleep but when I woke up my fever had come down a little and they told me I was septic.

An infection (presumably from the first mysterious bout of illness in June) had run rampant throughout my system and was wreaking havoc.... and the scary swollen foot/leg was back. I spent the next couple of days in the hospital and then back home where I was put on permanent couch rest for 2 weeks and that brings us to now.

Yeah, it's been one heck of a summer and one I'm sure I won't forget anytime soon! I'm stuck with what I'm calling my elephant leg and in a couple of weeks they're going to run some more tests to see why the swelling isn't going down. They're concerned that it has now caused some lymph damage and I'm sporting a very stylish anti emboli stocking. Think Mrs. Doubtfire's hosiery LOL. Seriously not a pretty sight!

email overload

I apologize if you emailed me this summer and I didn't get back to you. My email inbox is overflowing with more than 12,000 emails and I'm afraid I'm never going to make it through them all. I think I'm going to have to cut my losses and just hit delete and start fresh so that I don't have a mini anxiety attack just looking at the number climb every day *grin*.

Please email me again if you did send me a message or had asked me a question that you would like me to get back to you on. I know that there have been some new comments the last couple of days on my fall felt leaves and I just wanted to say hi to my new followers and hugs to my long time faithful followers that have been waiting patiently to hear from me again :)

I'm going to try and keep up more regularly here again. It probably won't be everyday like it had been but definitely more than once every 3 months and I've got tons of summer photos that I'm going to try and post some of to. Like the rainbow cake I made for L's 8th birthday, how our chick's are doing (we're getting eggs now!) and our Michaelmas celebration that we did today :)

Hugs,
Rosina

21 comments:

momma rae said...

so sorry to hear all of this!! sending you well wishes and hoping you can conquer these dragons with speed and vigor. ;)

Unknown said...

wow...I am so sorry to hear of such tragedy to your leg and system...I pray that the infection will be gone from you and back to your old self soon. I hope that it won't be a reoccuring thing for you in the future now because of it. i have heard such things from my BIL. I am glad to see you back here. i was wondering if you would ever be back. Take it easy and rest lots. Hugs..Mica

Sandpiper said...

Wow! I knew it must be something serious to keep you away from blogging! I'm glad you're alright(mostly) and I hope they get to the bottom of it. Prayers & hugs!

Jenny said...

Oh my goodness Rosina, what a scary thing to have happen! I hope that the medical community is able to locate the source and reason for the infection and that you heal soon.

It's good to have you back!

eidolons said...

*biggest of big hugs*
Sending healing thoughts your way!

marcia said...

Oh Rosina!
How terrible for you! So happy to hear you are on the mend. Sending prayers and good energy.

happy day!

marcia (Child in Harmony)

Jennifer Hoots said...

Of course, I've really missed hearing from you, but was hoping it was because you were just busy. I am so sorry to hear you've been so ill. I pray they have wisdom to help you and you make a full and speedy recovery. (((hgus)))

nunu said...

oh rosina! you poor thing. i've thought of you but never thought you could be ill. i only thought you were taking a break from blogging for the summer. wow. i will be sending positive thoughts your way that you continue to recover and get the proper treatment you need. from miami now, anushka

Anonymous said...

That sounds like quite the ordeal! I'm sorry you're going through all this. Sending some hugs and positive vibes your way :)

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry - it sounds very scary. Think about going and getting other opinions - sometimes someone else will know what it could be. So strange - these symptoms.
I wish you a quick recovery! Love to you and your family!

blackberrywintergirl said...

This EXACT SAME THING happened to my sister's friend. He went to two different hospitals to be told he had a spider bite. Finally he got like you and was also hallucinating, he went back to the first hospital and saw a new Dr. who immediately tested his wound for staph and told him he was septic from a staph infection. All questionable wounds that cause problems should be cultured for staph, IMHO! Glad you are doing better, I was thinking about you the other day.

Amy Friend said...

Oh, dear! I have been wondering about you lately. I was hoping you were just busy with your family. How scary. I hope that there has been no permanent damage and that your infection clears up. Gosh, I am worried about you!

Heather A said...

Wow! What an awful experience you've been having. Frightening, too, no doubt.

I'm sending heartfelt wishes for a complete recovery your way.

Rosina {Rosy ~ Posy} said...

Thank you everyone so much for the prayers and well wishes. You're all so sweet :)
Big hugs back to each of you!
Rosina

Anonymous said...

Rosina thank you so much for taking the time to tell us. I will be praying fot your health. I have missed you! Maryellen

Debbie said...

Oh my dear friend. I'm so glad you are back...and that things are getting figured out. How scary. I knew something was up when I emailed you and never heard back. That is NOT like you. :) Sending you lots of love and happy vibes for a quick recovery. xoxoxo

Jessica said...

What an awful trott over summer:( Hopefully now things will start to run a lot more smoothly.Hugs

Hopewell Creek Designs said...

Lady I was so worried about you!!! I kept checking and thought well if she isn't here soon I was going to resort to something as drastic as snail mail to find you haha.

But now I am curious about what you have is the same as what my husband gets.He was hospitalized twice with his leg as red as calf's liver and swollen. Then they realized that it was a deep tissue infection brought on by a cut or scrape or bug bite that gets bacteria in it.He has blood sugar issues and this only makes it worse. The blood sugar makes the infection worse and the infection makes the blood sugar higher.Penicillin is about the only thing that fixes it for him. He has had it twice this year. The last time was just the 6th of September. Both times we were at our camp...so I guess he needs to be a little more aware of hand washing when we are down there.He isn't allowed to walk bare foot due to this issue and try to never scratch bug bites...which is tough!
I am glad you are on the mend...please keep us informed on how you are doing!

Paula said...

I'm so glad you are feeling better. I sure hope they can get your leg back to normal size. Take good care of yourself.

house full of jays said...

Oh dear, Rosina. What an ordeal! I'm glad to see you back here but sorry to hear what kept you away. Praying you heal up completely without any lingering complications. Hugs to you!

Anonymous said...

Gah, sorry to hear about your bummer summer! Blogging relationships are so odd, you know, if someone goes AWOL for a while I always wonder if something's wrong, but of course often there's nothing wrong it's just that person took a break for a while. But then again, there are cases like yours where something is seriously wrong and we just don't know about it. Gah. Anyway, so glad you're back in Blogland, and hoping and praying you're back to health soon.