When the swine flu is a good thing.

Okay, so obviously the swine flu is not a good thing, but in any way today it kinda was. In a really strange way.

First off, I am home. After 1 night and half day at the hospital, I am home.
Second, I feel fine. Fever gone, no cough, fine. May be I went to the hospital and my infection got scared and just disappeared like magic. Poof! Well, no, but it feel like that doesn't it?

So, to explain why I felt so terrible, and 24 hours later I feel totally okay (or back to the stable I was) is kinda personal, but I feel like my blog followers can handle it. The day that I had those crazy fevers, and I felt like my world was going to come to an end, that night, I got my period. Seems innocent enough, but I have noticed that during the last year or so, my periods have literally made all my CF symptoms a million times worse. In fact, so much so, that the past few hospital stays have been a few days before my period, or the day of. I am starting to see a pattern. It was yesterday when I was talking to my doctor did I mention to her that I thought there was a connection. She said, that not only does a menstrual cycle sometimes cause non-CF women to get fevers, but CF women often have terrible CF setbacks when they get it. Naturally when I get a fever I think infection, and it freaks me out, and I tend not to connect it to anything else. Since I don't have a increased cough, higher blood sugars, and all the other factors that are telling of an infection, it's most likely that a few days during and the day that I get my period my body feels like it's in total free fall. And it seems to be getting worse, perhaps since I am so weak generally. Anyhow, since I was okay the next day, and today was even better, this is really really possible.

Since I was already at the hospital, we decided to switch my Iv's to a combo that I really like but that I need to start in the hospital due to a possible allergic reaction. I thought since I was already there, it was a good time to get that done, stay for 3 days, make sure it was okay, and go home and continue on. Fine.

Today, however, everything changed. I was waiting for a bed in ICU for the desensitization, when my nurse came in wearing this whole gettup...yellow gown, mask, goggles, and gloves. She changed my medication quickly and then told me that my doctor was going to come in and talk to me about why she had to be dressed like this. I was instantly freaked out. When she left I had a total freak out. My brother, Angie and Martin were in the room with me and we all had a really hard time waiting for that doctor to come back. Since there was a cepacia (a deadly bacteria for CF patients) outbreak last year at our clinic, it's still fresh to us all that it could happen to any one of us. And it's really scary. Plus the reality that for most people that have cepacia, lung transplant does not work. The terror of this infection is profound in our community. So, we waited for a while until they came and told us what was happening. By that time I was totally a wreck as I came to the conclusion that it must be me, the worst case scenario.

Alas, we found out that this had nothing to do with me. There had been a patient on our ward 6 days ago that had H1N1 (aka Swine Flu) and now that patient was back in the ER. Since she was on our floor, there was a bit of a panic. There was a lock down, and we all got TamiFlu for 10 days. The funny part (only funny to the 4 of us in the room) was that when the doctor told us about the H1N1 flu, we were all thrilled! We were so terrified about cepacia. He apologised that the nurse gave me the impression that this was particular to me, knowing that as CF patients (and due to the outbreak that we had) we are very sensitive to such news....it was certainly not the way to deliver that news.

Since I was at the hospital for a specific reason, and I was feeling well, the docs and I decided that I should just pack up and go home. Everyone wanted me out of there too. So, home I went. I was there for less than 24 hours...but I am SO happy to be home. I will continue to do the IV's that I am on now, and when things calm down at the ward, I will go in and get desensitized, since these IV's will have to be switched in time.

Ahhhhh home. Fantastic. Enough drama for ya?

Next post, nursery pictures!!