Mono at 37

This is my view these days.

It's a celebrated view really.  The people that decided putting motorized shopping carts into major retail outlets were genius and I am thankful.

2 months ago I went to bed feeling super tired, with a slight off an on pain nagging at me in my upper left abdomen.  5 days later I was diagnosed with mono.  At 37.  I went to the doctor and told him how ridiculously heavy and tired I felt and how I was sure it was getting worse.  Truthfully I was a little freaked out at what might be the cause of this acute illness, especially when he said, "Well I'll test you for mono, but nobody your age gets mono.  Usually by now most people are immune or have already had it."

Guess I should have purchased a Lotto ticket that day.

After a quick freak out, (and a sigh of relief that it wasn't anything serious) I thought to myself, "This is annoying but liveable.  I can handle this."  Little did I know what lied ahead.

A few days later it hit me like a ton of bricks.  My kids were in their last week of school and driving them to and from was SO much work.  I laid on the floor for most of the day, while the Monkey threw his alphabet letters all around me.  The Sprout channel was on from dawn till dusk and I played Candy Crush to keep myself awake.  Just getting up to go to the bathroom was a chore.  It was the hardest physical ordeal I've ever been through.  The whole thing was a mind game.  I really thought I was going to die.

Weeks 3 and 4 weren't much better, but I at least didn't have to dress the kids and drive them to school. I still had to make them meals though.  After a couple of weeks I'd "rally" and feel like I was gaining a bit of energy.  Enough to maybe say, load the dishwasher and swap (not fold) laundry.  "Yay!  I'm starting to get better!"  It would seriously knock me back 2-3 days each time it happened.  I felt a level of guilt throughout the whole process.  Not only did I watch my poor husband do double duty, but my kids spent more than a month doing little more than playing video games and watching tv.  Their breakfast and lunch were just thrown together, half heartedly.  Complete, but half hearted.

Every week we'd discuss things that needed to be done.  "Well by next week I ought to be feeling much better."  It didn't work that way.  To top it all off the virus kicked my thyroid lower than usual.  My body was so weak, my allergies were in full swing, and yes, thankyouverymuch, I got the stomach flu.

I was bored, and lonely.  I still am.  My only interraction with the outside world is church twice a week and wasn't even getting that.  I've had 2 visitors in these 2 months.  I can't tell you how nice it was to talk with someone for a little bit.

It's getting better though.  I've had a lot of time to sit and think about things, some good, some bad.  Sitting isn't my forte' though, so I'm slowly pushing myself in hopes to have something of a summer.

I am thankfully now able to take the kids to swim lessons every day without feeling like I'm overdoing it.  That coupled with some basic household tasks over the day is about my limit, but I am SO happy to be finally capable of doing SOMETHING.  I get sleepy early.  My legs are very tired.  It's going to take a while to get them up and running again, but slow and steady wins the race!  God is good!