Bla bla bla

This winter has been the winter from hell for sickness. I'm just recovering from my gazillionth cold. To say the word cold make it sound so innocuous - oh just a little cold, no big deal. Whoop de do. But I am wiped out every time. My days consist of dealing with a full blown head stuffed with sticky snot (I know, pretty), headache, sore throat, lethargy, and even a case of oral thrush from time to time. It all makes me feel really down. I actually yelled, "I can't stand this anymore!!" My 3 1/2 year old said sweetly, "It's 'otay' mummy, it will get better soon. You'll see." He can be so thoughtful at just the right time.

And don't forget, I had that bug bite from hell too..... (earwig or white tail spider - no one knows...) Beautiful hey....My son has watched more television in the last few months than in his entire 3 1/2 year life - twice as much probably. This fact alone makes me feel quite depressed. Yet when I'm sick, I feel powerless to encourage him to do more, I struggle to engage my good humour and energy to fight the whinge. I had thought we'd be spending these precious few years doing all sorts of projects and crafts, working on the garden. Now all he thinks about, all day, is TV and watching something. I will have to work hard to get TV out of his head. It seems an insidious destroyer of his creative, growing mind. He is our only living child (unless we manage to adopt - another story for another day) - sometimes this 'onliness' feels like a lot of pressure as I watch time fly by too quickly.

We eat good food, I take vitamins, I look after myself yet I seem to be the one who receives the brunt of the passing illnesses. Everyone says it's because the bubster is in preschool now, encountering all those new germs - plus living in a new city. At this point, I care not what the reason may be, I just want it all to end so I can be happy and energetic again.

To add, on Monday I go in for a glucose tolerance test as my recent blood work revealed a slight elevation in sugars. I don't want to get diabetes - I had gestational diabetes so I am at risk. Clearly this bums me out too. I also have some abdominal issue going on which is being evaluated, hoping the big 'C' word is not the cause. My mind goes to the worst case scenario immediately. It is a post traumatic stress reaction, I know that, but still I have to work it through and that is painful.

Anyway, what is all this about. I guess I just want to complain for a moment because this being sick every 2 weeks just really sucks sometimes. I want to feel great and make paintings with my son. I want him to be happy, industrious and calm, like I know he can be when not obsessed with the TV. I would like also to be happy, industrious and calm. Here's to getting back on track.

Ok, whinge over, off to work at the sewing machine now. I am creating stuff for the Spring Fair at the bubster's school. More on that later. Some fun things I think, which helps my spirits alot!

Comments

The Winter blanket is heavier some years than others. Spring won't be far away now. Don't despair.

I hope your health gets sorted soon. Treat yourself to a massage or a manicure or something else lovely. Sometimes you need to shift the focus to a little bit of luxury.
Tracy, mom2many said…
My boys watched a lot more tv when they were small(2 to 4), before they could read and before they found stuff to occupy themselves. It will even out if you are diligent. Now even on a really sick day, we can still maintain our 1 hr of screen time (this includes computer games, so the big boys don't even watch tv anymore).

I hate that you've been sick. I'm hoping vibrant health is in store for you soon.
You poor thing. There's nothing worse than getting sick all the time, and I know just what you mean about thinking scary thoughts at those times.

Try not to put extra pressure on yourself about the TV at these times, it's a good tool when you are low on energy.

Sending lots of get well vibes your way.
kate said…
It's really hard to keep the TV off. I fail utterly.

I don't know if you can get it over there but i find that taking Airborne helps alot with staying healthier in winter. It's an herbal supplement thing. Just seems to keep the colds off, or of shorter duration.

I hope you are better soon!
Reese said…
Karin--

I don't want to be an alarmist about the bug bite, but I would go to the Dr. and have him/her send it for culture to see if it isn't an infection.

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus) infections are rampant in the US now, and a lot of community-acquired MRSA infections look like a spider bite (but most people don't actively remembered really being bitten by a spider).

Take care of yourself....Reese (your friendly Microbiologist)
Karin said…
Thanks guys. I'm better today and feeling energetic again. On the road to recovery once again. Whew. Spring is in the air too. Whew.

Kate, I will have to look for that supplement. I have not heard of it. I used to use 'Emergen C' all winter in NYC but I've never seen it anywhere else. That was great stuff. Right now I supplement with echinacea and acidopholis. (spelling off)

Reese, thank you for your concern about the bug bite. It's healed up now but in the beginning we did what you suggested and had a culture taken - I too was concerned about MRSA, boy my head was spinning thinking about it! I was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks - after which I promptly got sick again. That was about a month and a bit ago. Interestingly, it still hurts from time to time but is completely healed with a scar.

It was good to learn as well that there is a spider bite clinic here in Canberra. I also learned that redback spider bites, while considered fatal on the spider charts (I have a chart of course being an ex-pat) is very treatable and one has plenty of time to get help - something I've been worried about since encountering 2 redbacks in our house. The white tail is also considered fatal but only in compromised people and mainly gives a horrible bite. I stirred in the middle of the night with my wrist in pain and thought, geez what the hell. Next day, my eyes about popped out of my head at the sight of it.

Thank you for your concern. I'm really pleased to have my own microbiologist looking out for me! :-)
Karin said…
And P.S. Not feeling so horrible about the TV issue either. Thanks for your ears on that. We love Totoro! (on it's 12th viewing perhaps?)

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