In the Last Month......

a lot has happened. A WHOLE lot. I had a place on my head that started out as a pimple under the skin but turned into cellulitis. Very painful and looked awful. Usually people get it in their legs but no, not me. It had to be where it'd be noticed. About a week before that I got a lump under my arm that I thought was a bug bite. It got to be as big as an egg but I was able to use hot compresses and get it to a head and get it drained. I wasn't worried about that. I went to the ER for the bump on my head and found out that the thing under my arm was MRSA. So I left the ER with two prescriptions for antibiotics. They had tried to drain both places but of course couldn't do anything with either. I wasn't worried about my under arm since I knew it was healed but they seemed more worried about that than the head thing. Oh well. I went to my doctor a few days later and she tried to get the core out of the one on my head but couldn't cause it hurt to badly. A day or so later I was able to do that plus I started using Ichthammol Ointment which is a nasty black looking tar smelling ointment that works amazingly well. Between the antibiotic and this ointment the bump was gone in about 2 days. I also got a new antibiotic for a place on my foot that is rashy looking. It helped some but not totally but that's okay. Now we're up to March 15th. I get a phone call from my Brother in law that his Dad had a heart attack. Now if you've followed my blog you know we've been on the outs with Father in law and his wife for almost 9 years. Brother in law thought he had called Chris but I told him to go ahead and call Chris and then have him call me. Chris was driving 3rd shift that week so he didn't get woken up to that news. The kids were on Spring break so we went and saw his Dad in the hospital on Friday morning the 16th. He looked wonderful in spite of the heart attack. They put a stent in his heart and with his diet change he should be okay. We had a nice visit but haven't gotten to see them again yet because his wife has bronchitis and is still sick with it. I went to my Mom's that Friday night to see my nephew John who came to visit with his wife and kids. They live in the Houston area so we don't get to see them too often. My brother Patrick looked awful. I asked him what was wrong and he said he just didn't feel very good. Said he was overtired. John was supposed to take him and Cheryl with them on Saturday to Six Flags. They didn't make it. Patrick had a stroke early the next morning in his left brain. He's blind in both his eyes on the right side of each eye. Kind of like vertical blinds that are only half open is how it was explained to us. It's very rare for a patient to lose their eyesight like that. He's also paralyzed on his right side on his arm and leg and has a long haul in front of him. They gave a target release date for him of April 13th but I don't think he'll be ready anytime soon. He was able to sit up on the side of the bed yesterday with Cheryl and my help but he's incontinent and doesn't get the signals in time to get someone to help him to the bathroom. We've been told he'll need 24/7 care but that's not possible at home. My sister and brother that live there with my Mom and him both have to work. I'm only 3 blocks away but I'm unable to help him because of my own health and Mom had a stroke about 5 years ago so she's not capable either. Hopefully my sister Cheryl can find a place for him that he qualifies for. He was 100% disabled and on medicare before his stroke so hopefully there's a skilled nursing program somewhere that can help him with more rehab. We'll see or as Mom has been saying......time will tell. Oh that Saturday (17th) I took Chris to Urgent Care. He had an ear infection. Got antibiotics for him and he was miserable all weekend. He was written out til Tuesday but I ended up taking him back to the doctor then because he just wasn't getting better. He ended up on the verge of bronchitis so he got a Z pack for that. And me? Oh yeah I was sick too but of course being Mom there wasn't time to get me taken care of. I was pretty sure I had strep but I was able to function as long as I took ibuprofen for the pain. I had to take my sister to work and back for the last two weeks and the driving is killing me because of my carpal tunnel but what can she do? She has no other way unless our other brother isn't at work and so far his schedule hasn't worked out with hers yet. It'll get better somehow or other. Oh I finally went to the doctor on Tuesday (27th) and I did have strep. I'm allergic to penicillin so I thought I'd be on another antibiotic for 10 days but (yeah me!) they have a Z pack equivalent for people who are allergic to penicillin. So I've been on 4 antibiotics in a month. I hope I don't see another one for a long time! I did get to see Dad a few times within the last month. He's doing great and we had a really nice visit the Sunday before everything went downhill starting with Chris's Dad having a heart attack. I'm so glad this month is at the end. Please let April be nice. I'll even take all the April Showers we can get as long as we get it with no sickness from anybody.