Fall Break

This year fall break is a little different. Usually we get 3 weeks off and we make plans of fun things we're going to do at home, and some fun outings to go on, and have a blast. Since Annie is at a different school than Rachel, she only gets one week for fall break. Thankfully it overlapped, so Rachel had a week off, then Annie and Rachel both had a week off, then Annie was back at school while Rachel had her final week off. I actually let Annie start her Fall Break 2 days early because she was kind of bummed to not get off as much as Rachel.

But instead of making a list and doing a bunch of fun stuff over fall break, this time we mostly just survived. Rachel's last day of school before Fall Break I caught this cough that has been going around. From everything I'd heard it's killer and lasts for weeks and doesn't go away until you get antibiotics. And everything I'd heard was right.

(Sickness recap coming up. Feel free to skip to the next pictures for more interesting fun.)

I went in to the doctor the following Wednesday and was prescribed an inhaler and Robitussin with codeine to help me sleep. Friday morning I woke up with hives from the codeine, apparently.

The benadryl and fighting off the cough wiped me out pretty good all weekend. We watched General Conference and I sat around happy to have Jacob around to do everything. He was such a great help. Over the weekend I started to have a hard time eating. I wouldn't have any appetite, then I'd be starving, try to eat, and after a few bites I'd be so full I almost felt sick. Not being able to eat much I started to get weak and by Tuesday I was coughing so much I couldn't sleep, couldn't do much during the day and couldn't even stand up much because of lack of food. Jacob stayed home for part of the morning and my mom came out and took the kids to the park and took care of them to help out. I talked to the doctor because I was still having hives come and go and she said to come in the next day just to make sure it wasn't from something else, and because I sounded horrible on the phone.

So Wednesday (a week after my first doctor's appointment) Jacob took me in because I wasn't doing well enough to even drive myself in. The nurse practitioner listened to my lungs and said I had pneumonia, probably in both lungs, so she sent me to get chest x-rays. I got chest x-rays, then felt really hungry and ate a whole Subway sandwich. A half hour later I was doing much better, just having finally gotten a real meal in me. The nurse practitioner called and said my chest x-ray was clear. I didn't have pneumonia, or it was just barely starting. I got some antibiotics. I kept up my coughing, though Nyquil helped me sleep some for a night or two. Thursday Marie came out to keep the kids occupied while I laid around recovering. By the afternoon I was feeling much better, but still coughing a good bit.
By Saturday and especially Sunday I was really noticing a difference when I used the inhaler. I could use it every 4-6 hours, but after 3 hours I would get tightness in my chest and be really short of breath like I had just run a mile. When I would use the inhaler that would go away. I called the doctor Monday morning and left a message to tell her I was needing the inhaler every 3 hours. But then over the course of that day I started really feeling a lot better, like the antibiotic was finally kicking the sickness.
Monday through Thursday I was doing a lot better. The doctor's assistant called me back at some point and said if I was needing the inhaler every 3 hours I probably needed some prednesone and to come in, but by then I was way better, so I didn't. Then Friday I started coughing a more again. Saturday morning I was getting really short of breath just standing up and having a hard time waiting 4 hours before using the inhaler. I took a couple puffs before we went in to the groundbreaking for the Tucson temple, felt fine the whole time then headed over to urgent care when it was done. While I was at urgent care the inhaler wore off and I spent a half hour coughing my lungs out. By the time the doctor came in to see me, I was at my worst, which was good timing because that's when you really want to have the doctor hear what's going on. They gave me a breathing treatment, took another chest x-ray, which was all clear, and I was SO much better, breathing easy after the breathing treatment. She said she thinks I have adult onset asthma, triggered by this coughing illness. I got a steroid shot and a prescription for more for 5 days and I am so amazed at how much better I have been doing since then.
I've been sleeping in the recliner for nearly 3 weeks because lying flat in my bed, or even propped up with pillows, would set off huge coughing episodes. Last night I laid in my bed flat all night and didn't cough at all. Maybe 5 times total the whole night. It's a total turn around. I haven't gotten out of breath once since Urgent Care, where Saturday morning I would get very winded going up stairs or sometimes even just standing up from sitting. It's like night and day difference. A miracle of modern medicine. I am so grateful for modern medicine. I still cough occasionally, but just as much as you would expect on the last leg of recovery from a cough. I don't even need cough drops. It's awesome.

Anyway, so that was MY fall break. Half-way dying, just trying to survive and letting the kids mostly run amok and do whatever would keep them out of trouble. They read books that we got from the library. Drew and painted. Watched a lot of Jake and the Neverland Pirates and the occasional Wild Kratts.
Besides a couple trips to the library the only outings they got over fall break were to Grandma and Grandpa's house when I went to the doctor, or when Grandma or Grandpa or Marie came out to take them off my hands for a while. It is such a blessing to have family close by.

Rachel's drawing

Rachel and Annie reading together. Rachel really loved having Annie home and missed her when she was back at school. They're good friends and get along pretty well most of the time.

Grandpa Knight got to go to the actual groundbreaking ceremony for the Tucson Temple to help interpret, but the rest of us watched together at the East Stake Center. Afterwards we got a picture.

We are so excited to be getting a temple here! It was a good wrap up for fall break. Now, back to the routine. Yipee! I love breaks from school, but I also love when the kids are at school. Each makes me appreciate the other more. :)