In Sickness And In Health

In (mostly) Sickness And In Health

Lyndon and I have been married almost sixteen months.

During this time, he and I have fallen victim to chicken pox,  seizures,  the common cold,  an ear infection and hand foot and mouth disease.

It has been a rough sixteen months.

Why do we keep getting sick?

We have no idea.



It's not as if we live in squalor and only eat junk food.

This isn't the case at all.

We also don't believe it's our house making us sick,  Lyndon lived in this house for a year before we got married and he was rarely ill.


So we don't know the why,  and all we can do is try to learn something from this time and grow from it.


What have I learned so far?

Enjoy everyday that you AREN'T sick.

Especially a day when your throat doesn't feel like it's swallowing razor blades.

Swallow right now.

Take a nice big swallow.

Does it hurt?

No?

Well you should be grateful for that.



I've had "razor blade throat" twice in my life now and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The blisters on your face and body also aren't great,  but the ones in your throat are the absolute worst.


Being sick the same time as your spouse makes life difficult.

I have also learnt through this time that your husband/wife is extremely precious and should always be treated as such.

Whether they are the sick one or the one looking after you while you're sick.

On average I am sick more often than Lyndon and he has been a huge help to me.


This last week we have both been struck down with hand foot and mouth disease and Lyndon has been a real trooper.

I am very proud of him and grateful to have him.


There have been times when it all seems too much and I can't handle it,  but eventually I'll get over these feelings and get on with it.



One of the most valuable things I've picked up in our sixteen months of being sick on and off is that it's okay to have a meltdown as long as you don't DWELL ON IT.

The other night, when I realized I did in fact catch hand foot and mouth disease from Lyndon, I cried and cried and cried.

I was miserable.

Kept repeating things like: "Why does this keep happening?" "It's not fair" etc etc

I cried for ten minutes straight.

After that I pulled myself together and carried on with life.

You can't allow yourself a pity party for too long.

A small one is fine, as long as you suck it up eventually and don't continue to dwell on it.


This last week has been extremely uneventful and boring for Lyndon and myself, as well as uncomfortable.
But it's almost over.

And when we are both well again, we will thank the Lord and live everyday with the knowledge that things could be a lot worse and we are very lucky.

And even when we are sick, it's good to realize that things could be a lot worse.
Yeah, being sick all the time is bad,  but it's not THAT bad.

That's an important thing to remember.



Thank you for your prayers and support during this time.

My bout with chicken pox remains the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
While HFM disease ain't no walk in the park,  it's survivable.

I should be back to work on Monday and thank goodness for that.


Lyndon and I have both had a long enough holiday.





Thanks for reading x

A Clueless Guide to Game of Thrones

So for today's blog entry, I thought I would just do something a bit silly and not-serious-at-all.

Here's a newsflash for you, and don't freak out too much, but I've NEVER watched an episode of Game of Thrones. Nor have I read the books.

I know next to nothing about it.

All that I know is stuff I picked up on by watching other tv shows and movies, pop culture references (like those in skit shows like Saturday Night Live) or what I've heard friends and family say.

I thought it might be fun if I tried to guess/explain who/what I think every main character is/does/if they're still alive etc etc.

Unless you watch Game of Thrones this probably won't be very entertaining.

I honestly feel like Lyndon and I are some of the only people left in the developed world who do not watch this show. It certainly feels that way!

So without further adieu, here is my CLUELESS GUIDE TO GAME OF THRONES!!!!

Tyrion Lannister:

He is played by Peter Dinklage. Did you see him in SNL? Because he was actually really funny.

They did a Game of Thrones skit where nothing happened for the whole episode. Just Jon Snow lying there dead.

From what I know, Tyrion is a cool guy. Yep.

He's still alive.

Jaime Lannister:

Related to Tyrion???

I'm just going by the last name here..

He's still alive maybe?

Cersei Lannister:

Isn't she the crazy woman who does inappropriate things with her brother??  (I'm referring to incest) Is HE Jaime???

I don't know his name. I think I'm right though. Jaime is the brother and Cersei is the sister and they had a child together which is the little king dude who everyone hates.

Yeah I think I'm right.

She's gotta be alive!

Daenerys Targaryen:

Emilia Clarke plays her. I heard somewhere that she was supposed to be 13 in the show but because she also sleeps with guys it wasn't appropriate and they had to make her older.

She has the dragons, and they call her 'Khaleesi' or something like that.

She has really bleach-blonde long hair and at one point she yelled: "WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS?!"

She loves her dragons.

Wasn't she in a relationship with a much older man? I heard that somewhere.

She's still alive.

Jon Snow:

He was important. Then he died. I've heard girls say they think he's good looking.

People have this quote about him but I can't remember it now.

He's dead for now but might get resurrected.

Petyr Baelish:

Dude, I never heard of you!

Going by your name I'm gonna say you're a guy. But other than that I've got nothing.

Dead or alive, who knows?

Jorah Mormont

Jorah is a fun name. Once again, never heard of you. I'm thinking you're a dude.

You could be alive.

Sansa Stark:

She's played by this girl that was also in this other movie I watched. I've seen a picture of her walking with Joffrey (the little king dude). Was she supposed to be betrothed to him or something?

From what I've heard she is kinda boring.

Still alive. Too boring to be dead.

Arya Stark:

Relation of Sansa. That's all I know bahaha.

Bran Stark:

Maybe Stansa's brother or father?

Bran sounds like a masculine name.

Could be wrong.

Could be alive or dead.

Theon Greyjoy:

Again, fun name! Greyjoy. Makes him sound like a contradiction.

Could be a good dude.

Are you alive or dead? I could not say.

Sandor Clegane:

How did George R R Martin think of all these bizarre-o names?! They are worse than Lord of the Rings. Sandor???? Um.. okay. Clegane. Sounds like something you'd get stuck in your throat after drinking too much milk.

I don't know if you are alive, but you sound like a man.

Joffrey Baratheon:

Little king dude!!!!

He is hated by everyone. The product of incest, so that definitely doesn't help matters.

Why are you such a horrible person?

Maybe its because he knows his parents were being naughty and he could never get over what he is.

I know this, everyone was SUPER HAPPY when you died.

Sorry little dude.

(Probably for the best though)

Catelyn Stark:

ANOTHER Stark?!! How many Stark's are there in this thing?!! Stansa's whole family, clearly.

Is there a Tony Stark? Bahaha. (Iron Man joke)

No, but in all seriousness. You are either the sister or the mother of Stansa.

And you are still alive. Probably.

Robb Stark:

Hmmmmmmm okay. Another one. Brother or father.

End of speech.

DOA. Dunno.

Ned Stark:

SERIOUSLY?!!! I went to Wikipedia and found all the 'Starring Roles', that's how I got this list together. How are there so many Starks in 'Starring Roles', they should have renamed the show "The Starks, also featuring some other people".

Are the Starks quite important?!

Honestly I've only ever heard of Stansa. Maybe that's because I googled the actress.

I just don't know anymore.

Is Ned the uncle or the grandfather or the littlest brother?

Are you alive?

There are too many Starks on this show.

Robert Baratheon:

Robert is a normal name. Seems like a normal sort of guy.

Sorry I don't know anything else about you, Rob.

Hopefully you're a good person and therefore still alive.

Viserys Targaryen:

Oooh you're a relation of *scrolls up to find her name*

Daenerys!

Are you her sister or brother or father? I read somewhere her father was dead. I'm going to say NOT her father then.

Could be a girl or a guy's name.

I'm going to say you're still alive, I just have a feeling.

And you're probably a guy.  But you could also very well be a girl.

HOW DID I DO?!?!!?

Was I kind of right most of the time or was I WAY off?

Either way I had fun.

Left it to the very last day of the month to write this blog entry.

Hope it has brought some enjoyment to at least a few people.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next month!

1 Year Ago Today:The Worst I've Endured.

It's weird that I remember it so clearly but I just do.

I remember because it was Anzac Day and I thought to myself "Wow.  This is the worst day ever to get sick".

I still have the scars,  you know.







I had been feeling run down and under the weather for a little while.
I had just survived school holidays at the cafe so I thought that was the reason.

It got so bad (my tiredness) that I couldn't even stay awake long enough to prepare a meal for myself.
Lyndon had to come home at lunch time and make me something to eat.
I slept and slept.

I thought it was just the flu or something.


Then there was a sore on my head.
I remember discovering it,  near the base of my skull.
It was all crusty and felt almost like an area of dandruff.
Dandruff is itchy.

I use shampoo for dandruff though so I haven't had an itchy scalp in over ten years.
It was odd.


The night before Anzac Day,  this very night,  one year ago,  I went for a shower and noticed some strange blisters on my upper torso.
What in the world?
I counted the blisters.  There were less than twenty.
A few minutes later I counted again and it had jumped into the thirtys.


Something was very wrong.


I don't know what I thought it was.

Maybe a skin irritation or something like that?


I went to bed,  my scalp still itchy.
I was convinced this was because of dandruff.



The next morning, Lyndon went to the Anzac Day dawn service while I continued to sleep (I had been doing that a lot)
When he got home he tried to tell me about it but I was just so tired and foggy-brained.

Somehow it was decided I needed to go see a doctor,  so we did that.


$100 later and I was diagnosed with glandular fever and a staphylococcus infection (that's what the crusty scab on my head and the blisters on my body supposedly were).

I called my dad and cried.
I felt absolutely awful.

Glandular fever was no joke and I didn't know how I was going to cope.


I don't remember the rest of the day.
I was still feeling very cruddy and had started taking the antibiotics I was given that morning for the staphylococcus infection.

I slept a lot.



I woke up the next morning, the day after Anzac Day with an EXTREMELY itchy scalp.


It felt like my head was in flames.

The whole thing ached and itched with a ferocity I'd never experienced.


It was 5am and I sat up in the bed and cried.

My whole body felt gluggy and utterly destroyed.
Everything ached.
The blisters on my chest were becoming hot and itchy,  my head,  well I already explained what that felt like.

It seemed as if my entire body had betrayed me.  I couldn't trust it.  I was trapped in a shell that continued to cause me immense discomfort.



Amongst my tears, I decided (or felt lead) to book a flight back to Kaitaia.
If I did have glandular fever,  Lyndon wasn't going to be able to take care of me

He was working full-time and I needed constant attention.
I couldn't do anything on my own anymore.

So the flights were booked.


I had to get blood tests done before my flight so Lyndon took me to the doctors again.
They drew so much blood.
I squirmed and squealed.

When Lyndon dropped me at the airport I couldn't stop crying.

By this point the blisters on my upper torso had spread up my chest and were now visible all over my neck.

I looked horrid.

And I was crying a lot.

No one else said anything.

I got on the plane and continued to cry.

I flew all the way to Keri Keri and my little brother picked me up.


He was not overly excited about the blisters on my neck.  I had asked him earlier to bring a pillow so I could sleep on the hour-long car ride home.

I managed to do so for most of the trip.



A little while after I arrived I went to see my dad at work.

He took one look at me and told me I had the chicken pox,  even though I'd already had them when I was 12.


He got another doctor to take a look for a second opinion.

She confirmed it was chicken pox.

I remember her exclaiming "Oh my goodness they're all down your throat, girl!" Or something to that effect.

They were down my throat.
The blisters.

I could feel them.

Within a few days I was almost completely covered in them.



I thought I was going to die.


My whole body was just one big,  aching,  betrayal of what it used to be.

A few days in I lost my ability to speak or even swallow my own saliva.


My dad got me numbing gel so I could try and eat and drink but it still hurt.

It felt like I was swallowing razor blades.



I slept almost all day.




I didn't leave the house for over a week.

Did not step outside once.

I want to cry just thinking about it.

I felt so unbelievably ill.



Lyndon wanted to call me but I couldn't talk so we just had to text.


Even though my throat was badly infected with blisters,  I still had to swallow two large pills around three times a day.



It became a blur.



I couldn't stay away to watch The Bachelor at 7.30pm.

I took many baths with a tar solution that helped the itching.

My mother had to put calomine cream on my blisters after ever bath.


Some of the blisters scarred .





Eventually I started to get better.

I returned to Dunedin ten days after I'd left.

Most of these days were spent asleep.



I had never been so sick ever in my life.




It's been a year but I still think about it.

If I had stayed in Dunedin thinking it was glandular fever,  I could have gotten gravely ill.


So I'm glad I left.  And I'm glad it's over and I survived.


But I still think about it.


It was definitely the worst thing I've ever experienced,  and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.