zeptember

I have a pet peeve.

When I am telling someone about how bad my recent virus-turned-lung infection is, and that person says, “but have you tried Mucinex?” And I respond with “No”, it annoys the living piss out of me when said person gives me a look that says I have utterly failed as a person and worse, that I have brought this worsening of the condition upon myself.

I know that this person has no idea that the last time I tried Mucinex, my face wanted to explode. This person has no idea that doctors kept pushing the Mucinex on me and that in January, 2009, I gave it another try just to say I did it - to prove them wrong.
This person doesn’t know that I ended up having to go on antibiotics again, anyway, because Mucinex makes it all worse for me. Either I have tiny ducts or really thick constantly inflamed mucus in my sinus cavities, or both. Mucinex, which is guaifenesin, is supposed to thin the mucus enough to allow it to exit the sinus cavities more freely. It never works that way on me. The stuff gets thinned out in the sinus cavities, but builds up like a pressure cooker, because the ducts themselves are either too narrow or easily blocked.

Yes, I’ve tried Mucinex. It doesn’t work for me. Yes, I drink enough liquids. I’ve been on soup, tea, electrolyte water and occasionally Lemon Ginger Echinacea juice constantly for two full weeks, now.

I didn’t have all of this history in my head to recite back to the person who gave me a dirty look for not taking Mucinex. I just know that I shouldn’t take it. That was enough for this person to judge me - to think that I wasn’t doing all I could do to take care of myself, or worse, making excuses to seek pity for my illness.

So I am laying out my history here for myself and for others. The person who judged me today won’t even know or care what I’m talking about come Monday if I try to recite all this back to her - people judge and move on to other things and forget.
I’m the one taking it personally. I’m the one trying to prove myself to others every time they give me that look and say, “yes but have you tried…?”
But what happens every time - is that I get all crazy trying to PROVE MYSELF, to PROVE A POINT, and to SHOW THEM THEY’RE WRONG - and who gets hurt out of it?
ME!

So I get just a wee bit touchy. Just keep your goddamned advice to yourself, OR if you really really think I need to hear your advice or hear about some latest drug or remedy, DON’T give me that look when I say I can’t take that drug or remedy.
Take me at face value. Don’t make me feel like I have to go and prove myself to you. Don’t make me justify my reasons. You can take what I say on its own and be satisfied that I know what the hell I’m talking about, or you can go shove a hot poker up your ass. And leave me the hell alone.

That’s what the reality of the story was - not food allergies but viruses. I went from being bedridden the last week of January/first week of February, and on February 5 while walking to dinner, I had declared how wonderful it was to be alive and walking with my husband again. And BAM within an hour I was sick with what the doctor later said was enterovirus.

The enterovirus took me down hard. I never had so much diarrhea in my life - and within a span of 3 days. I could not eat anything more than soup, tea and banana mush for a week straight. I found out that the Cream of Rice was making my fingers split open, so I cursed it and stopped using it. I don’t care if it says Gluten Free on the package - I call cross-contamination and won’t use B&G brand ever again.

My fingers cleared up within 48 hours of no longer eating Cream of Rice.

By Friday, February 12, I once again declared I was feeling better. I had gone back to work and worked Feb 10, 11, 12.
By Friday night however, I had a lot of sinus drainage and was sneezing a lot.

By Saturday, February 13, a full on respiratory tract infection was now at play. My head felt full of rubber cement, yet my right nostril had a continuous thick leak of goo. Despite that, I rode my bicycle to run some errands, and went out into the cold night air for a local zombie-themed pub crawl. I endured cigarette smoke at the bars (ppl smoking in the doorways and smoke coming inside), which of course did not help. I blew my nose all night.
Saturday or Sunday I’d called the doctor’s office, and the on-call doctor called me back. He said that I likely caught a secondary virus, that it wouldn’t be a continuation of the enterovirus. He said there was nothing to be done except pain meds, neti pot, salt soaks, and a heating pad to my face. We had talked about over the counter (OTC) remedies - I can’t take most of them because of various side effects. The doctor told me the sinus infection was likely not bacterial and to just keep doing what I was doing.

On Sunday I was bedridden all day. I thought I was getting strep throat, my throat was so sore. I had a pounding sinus headache. Both ears plugged up; I had really bad left ear pain, and droning engine noise in head. I did the neti pot, huffed salt water, drank lots of tea and soup and water all day. Other than that, I didn’t eat much. Running fever up to 100°F - it was up and down all day.

On Monday, February 16, I was bedridden half the day. I had another pounding sinus headache. Both ears plugged up and I had really bad left ear pain. Mucus strained with blood when I cleaned out my nose with the neti pot. I also huffed salt water, drank lots of tea and soup and water all day. I had spicy Thai chicken dish for late lunch and again for late dinner (leftovers). I took one tylenol 3 and felt better for awhile, then congestion returned and both nostrils plugged up again. Running fever up to 100°F - it was up and down all day.

On Tuesday, I went to the doctor. Still getting blood spatter in the nose goo. Doctor confirmed I still had a fever - it was 99.4°F I think - and the doctor said yeah, I have a sinus infection alright. She heard out my medical history (had chronic sinus infections all through childhood thanks to living with a pack-a-day smoker in an industrial part of town), and decided to put me on antibiotics.

I was back in the doctor’s office again on Wednesday, February 17, because I’d tried to go back to work that morning. The chilly morning air and the thick fog made my lungs ache badly and it became hard for me to breathe. I looked pasty white. I barely fixed my hair to go to work, I was so sick. I turned right around and came back home because my lungs hurt so bad and I was having trouble breathing. I was able to get into the doctor’s office at noon that day, and saw a different doctor. She listened to my heart and lungs. She said I have ‘junk’ in my lungs, and that I was wheezing. She gave me my first ever albuterol treatment (nebulizer delivery).
Although it cleared my lungs and made for velvety smooth breathing for the next six and a half hours, the ingredients in the albuterol treatment also made me very light headed, gave me tremors, and removed my ability to concentrate. I darted my eyes and head around and had anxiety all day long. I told the doctor I can’t work in that state, and that the treatment is no better than the illness itself. I opted to stay home another day.

When I got back home, I found Alameda County Industries vehicles all over the intersection near my home. They were shoveling a sand like material onto a spill of some sort, which was all up and down two streets and filled the intersection. I saw a garbage or recycle truck with its hazard lights on. I went over to the working men and asked if it was hydraulic fluid that had spilled. They said it was. They assured me that the sand they were putting down was harmless, and was like ‘kitty litter’.

Please google hydraulic fluid toxicity to learn more, and also check out a news story about a woman who died after a similar accident.

I have also uploaded photos here. My lips were stinging when I got back into the house last night after taking pictures. I should have worn a mask of course. Of course.

I shed all my clothes in the kitchen and put them in a garbage bag. I took a shower immediately.

Last night I filed complaint with the Alameda Department of Public Works and the City Clerk’s office for Boards and Commissions. This morning, following Susie Collins’ advice, I phoned up the police department to make sure they’d been notified. They said they had, and seemed indifferent to me. They routed me over to the fire department, where I was told I’d get a call back. I got a voicemail saying they’d send someone over to check out the street, but I didn’t see anyone come by in a Fire Department uniform or vehicle.

At 3pm today, I received the following email:

Good afternoon,

Guy Martinez Safety Manger

I sent an email back to Mr. Martinez, asking for specifics on the hydraulic fluid; “Thank you for your response. Can you tell me what type of hydraulic fluid had spilled, aside from it being ‘premium’? Was it mineral oil, organophosphate ester, or polyalphaolefin?”

And now I wait.

That brings us up to Thursday - today. I’m home, still on antibiotics, still getting painful ears plugging up, still filling the waste basket with snotty tissues…and avoiding going outside to save my life.

Edit:

Today I got another answer from the ACI guy regarding the hydraulic fluid spill:

Good morning it is a petroleum-based mineral oil, have a good day guy.

Well, since I didn’t get a brand name or anything, I turned to google and found a MSDS for a petroleum-based mineral oil hydraulic fluid by Graco (get the PDF here).
The usual applies - respiratory, CNS and skin damage can occur with the use or misuse of hydraulic fluid. I just have to watch my health over the next few months to see if anything manifests out of this. I’d already developed an upper respiratory infection which turned into either bronchitis or RSV before the spill happened.

Today is the second day in a row that I did not have diarrhea upon waking. Today is the second day in a row that my stomach and intestines tried to stabilise - until I fed myself something other than Cream of Rice with mashed banana.

Last night it resulted in 8 episodes of diarrhea. This afternoon it resulted in moderate nausea and stomach and intestinal gurgles. I’m worn out. I’m tired as hell. And I worked a full day today on top of it.

I was supposed to see a physical trainer today, but instead I went to the doctor.

That’s when I found out that it’s not JUST a food reaction I’ve been having, and it WASN’T food poisoning.

My doctor is certain that I have an enterovirus. She said it’s going around - she’s seen patients with my exact symptoms for over a week, now.

I know that what’s going on with me IS also a food reaction on top of the enterovirus, because my left thumb is covered in flaky dermatitis, and my thumb is cracked and will probably start bleeding tomorrow.

According to MedScape, I was harbouring the enterovirus for up to a week before the diarrhea hit me on Friday. It says, “The average incubation period is 3-10 days, during which the virus migrates to regional lymphoid tissue and replicates. Minor viremia results, which is associated with the onset of symptoms and viral spread to the reticuloendothelial system (spleen, liver, bone marrow).”

Another MedScape article says, “The enterovirus enters the human host through the GI or respiratory tract. The cell surfaces of the GI tract serve as viral receptors, and initial replication begins in the local lymphatic GI tissue. The virus seeds into the bloodstream, causing a minor viremia on the third day of infection. The virus then invades organ systems, causing a second viremic episode on days 3-7. This second viremic episode is consistent with the biphasic prodromal illness. The infection can progress to CNS involvement during the major viremic phase or at a later time. Antibody production in response to enteroviral infections occurs within the first 7-10 days.”

I could have caught it at my neighbor’s house when we went over there last Tuesday to watch the season premier of the last season of LOST.
I could have caught it from my new psychiatrist’s office on my first visit.
I could have caught it at work.
I could have caught it anywhere.

The bum deal out of all of this is that I went from being bedridden with endometriosis pain right into being laid out flat with massive diarrhea for three days. I lost two weekends of fun out of that deal. I didn’t get to see an old high school acquaintance who was in town for the weekend. Worst of all, I went out on Sunday to a party while still sick with the virus, because I was convinced it was food poisoning and/or food reaction I was still dealing with. I ate some home cooked food at the party after having been on mush earlier that day, and the stomach cramps returned with a fury. When I got home at 9pm Sunday night, the diarrhea returned and I had 8 rounds of it.

I didn’t want to go in to work today, but I was still partially in denial about actually being SICK sick…even though I called to cancel my physical trainer appointment on my way to work. To be fair, I took my temperature at work and it was 99.8°F at 11am. I hinted that I should go home, but the director told me I was fine. The secretary told me I was fine.
What they meant was, “Lunch rush is coming up in the next half hour, and we’re short staffed. You have to stay, we need you.”

I did stay on, but that’s when I called my doctor and scored an appointment after work.

When I left out of the doctor’s office, it was raining, and I hadn’t brought my raincoat with me. I walked in the rain back to my car, parked a block and a half away. When I got home, I took a blow dryer to my hair, put some dishes in the new dishwasher my husband recently bought, scooped the cat litter, and got into my jammies and crawled into bed.

I’ll be staying home tomorrow - I made sure to get a doctor’s note the moment the doctor suggested I stay home. I called work the moment I left the doctor’s office to let everyone know I won’t be in.

Once again, I’m kicked when I’m down, thanks to my immune system being deficient, thanks to endometriosis and allergies and lord knows what else I have going on immunologically.

I guess if one can find a silver lining… I lost 6 pounds in 3 days. I’m down to 158lbs.

Today is Day 2 of headache and 99.2F average temp… again.

Honestly I should say the temperature thing is a continuation of what has been going on since December 7, 2009, when I noticed I had a fever from the flu for the first time.

Since December, my temperature has returned to MY normal of 97.5F only once or twice. Since December, my temperature has gotten to 98.6F a handful of times. But the prevailing temperature has been in the 99F range.

This morning when I woke for work, my head hurt, my sinuses hurt, my eyes hurt, my joints ache and my upper back aches - but not in the flu sort of way. My head, sinuses and eyes are likely all tied with either a continuation of the last virus I had, or a new virus caught while back to work yesterday.
The joint pain is because I went dancing for two nights in a row this past weekend. The back pain is because george is due in 48 hours, and so my body is trying to fold in on itself from the top down as it usually does each month.

I have to leave for work in 10 minutes, and yet I feel like my head is going to explode and I feel like I could expel one of my sinus cavities right here on the keyboard. And just in time, the stabbing right side ovarian pain has awakened for its day at work on my body.

It’s 44°F outside, and we have one ambient heat lamp installed, which does absolutely nothing to warm the “outdoor classroom”. The teachers probably won’t want to send me any children when it’s below 55°F, which means I have to float around from classroom to classroom, assisting other teachers all morning. It’s awkward work.

But off I go.

Last night, just as I lay my head down on my pillow, I began coughing. At first it was intermittent, but after just a few minutes, the cough became relentless, and I found myself in the bathroom nearly puking from all the coughing. My body certainly wanted to expell something, and my head began to hurt.
I took my temperature - 99.5F - and I was seriously confused by this point. WTF?

I popped a Tylenol 3 because my joints have been seriously aching - I went dancing two nights in a row and my joints just can’t take that sort of beating. My knees and ankles had been swollen all day, and as a result, it hurt to stand up, sit down, go up or down stairs, or even sit in a chair for very long.
As well, the Tylenol 3 contains codeine, which suppresses a cough.
Lastly, I had the Sunday Night Insomnia going on, and Tylenol 3 is sure to knock me out.
Call it whack-a-mole if you will, but it’s what worked.

I woke this morning for work and my throat is sore and I have a headache. My eyes hurt.

I took my temperature with the digital temple thermometer - 100.1F - WTF!!!
Wanting to be sure of the reading, I took my temp with the old fashioned glass thermometer - 98.6F.
I tried a third thermometer - an oral digital - 98F.
I took my temp under arm with the glass thermometer - 98F.

I am completely confused.

So I looked up taking a temperature. I read that if the reading is unsure, wait 20 minutes and try again. So at 7:30am I will try again. I read that digital thermometers are considered less reliable than glass thermometers, and that taking one’s temp by armpit is the least reliable way to guage a fever.

…

I’m registering 101F on the digital thermometer, now, and taking my temp orally again… it’s 99F.

Screw this, I’m going in to work anyway. Stoopid body.

9pm Edit: I went to work and worked a full day. I took my temp regularly throughout the day - it hung around 99F to 99.5F.
When I got home, I took my temp - 100.3F.

I’m calling the doctor tomorrow to set up an appointment - I’ve been 99-100F since the flu back on December 7th…maybe longer. Is this my new body temp? I used to always be 97.5F.

What’s going on with my body?