We all do...
There's a gap in my blog posts because I've been sick ... a couple times. I usually have a few posts written and saved to use as needed to make my posting appear seamless. I'd used those.
So this is another gratitude post.
I'm recovering, but compared to the six days I spent in a Montana hospital with E Coli, I'm in great shape. When you're in pain you think how grateful you'll be just not to be in pain. I am. I am. I'm very happy to be pain free. I just wish I had all my energy back.
As I was flying to Montana from Seattle, I thought maybe I'd eaten too many snacks. The usual ginger ale didn't help. I soon realized that this was something more. I spent the whole descent into Glacier National Airport, with my forehead against the seat in front of me and my nose in one of those lovely paper airsick bags. Eventually I was able to leave the plane, by wheelchair.
The next day I checked into the hospital at Logan Medical Center and stayed under scrutiny for whatever was sending my white blood count through the roof. Eventually tests were positive for E Coli bacteria, the toxin-producing kind you get from eating contaminated food. This is why restaurant workers are supposed to wash their hands.
Lovely. Here I am someone who genuinely enjoys cooking. binged on Master Chef Australia for the past 3 years and rarely eats out. I had let my cupboards get rather bare though. So the week before I left for vacation, I'd eaten food from the hot bar at a local supermarket, a fast food breakfast sandwich a couple days before, a ready made sandwich from the grocery store, and a hot sandwich at the airport. I'd also cooked my own hamburgers the week prior. After talking with the county health department, I'm still not sure where I got it. Rare hamburger and raw vegetables are often the source.
While I rested in a hospital bed, lovely people came in to collect blood and check my pulse and blood pressure, which had gone as low as 87/40. There were people who helped with all the bodily functions that I don't normally share with others. They did it with a smile and ease that gave me at least a modicum of dignity.
These lovely people were nurses.
So all gratitude for the doctors, nurses, and lab technicians who devote their lives taking care of us when we are at our worst.
Gratitude to friends who checked in with me. I could feel their well wishes.
Thanks to my daughter who drove me to the ER and hung out with me while I was waiting to be seen.
Thanks for the special healthy meals made for me while I was recovering.
For Liane, Susan, Randy, and Janille's family who helped me cart my books, tables, and grids in and out of the holiday venues that I may have had to cancel without them.
These are the angels in my life, a support system that isn't visible until it's needed.
I am making little bits of progress every day and I am working on more uplifting blogs that will be coming your way...
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