Moms Don't Get Sick Leave

I bought this sign while I was on my trip to Eureka Springs. It is still sitting on my counter, because my son got sick shortly after I returned, and then I got sick, and I haven't got around to putting it up. This must be the explanation for why I am sick and still doing the housework. I didn't 'officially' post the rule.

My son went through the prior week with most of the symptoms of H1N1. He missed an entire week of school. His dad stayed home with him on Monday and Tuesday, and I got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then, lucky me, I got sick last Sunday. First my chest got tight and it was harder to breathe. By the evening, I had ear pressure, a fever, a nasty cough, and all over achiness. I woke up Monday morning and felt so much better that I felt silly staying home from work. I no longer had a fever, so I went in. Throughout the day my energy sank. My neck was painful from my swollen lymph nodes. I suffered through a church meeting and went home and went straight to bed.

Tuesday I stayed home. I got plenty of rest so I would feel better for the rest of the week. Little did I know what was coming. By Thursday I was starting to itch. My ears got bright read and my scalp itched first. I started sneezing and my nose was running. I felt like I fell face first into a pit of ragweed. Then I started getting hives on my midsection. By 7 that evening I was covered with them. I rolled in benadryl cream, and begged my fiance to bring me home benadryl pills. Even that didn't stop this rash. By one in the morning, it looked like I had a terrible sunburn. I was really close to going to the emergency room to get a shot.


This was me last night AFTER taking benadryl for a day and starting the other meds the doctor gave me. Friday morning I woke feeling a little better, but as the day went on, the hives came back full force. I didn't think I had any choice but to go to the walk in clinic (torture) because otherwise I was going to rip my skin off from the itchiness. After 3 hours (!!!!!!) I had a steroid, more benadryl, an antibiotic and more hives. The doctor was awesome, except for the part where she kept showing the med student my hives and saying things like, "Wow, this is a classic case," or "How interesting!" I let her know that I found it less than interesting. They thought I might even have walking pneumonia... but an x ray revealed I did not. The doctor determined that it must be a viral rash, as a result of the virus I was fighting. Not a common symptom to be sure, but it was one of the ways it manifested itself in my body.

I think the worst part was my hands. They got really sore and irritated from the red patches. You can't really see it well in this picture, but at least 1/2 my hand was affected. Today I am feeling better, especially as the steroid is taking over. I still have some sore patches, but as long as I keep taking the meds, it should be okay now.

The medicines I am taking for this rash make me really tired. I keep having to sit down and rest, which is what I should be doing anyway, but any mom knows that is almost impossible. Kids still have homework, baths, and need dinners. If the kitchen goes neglected for more than a day, it turns into a pit. Heck, there were even apples waiting on me to cook them, threatening to rot. A mom can't waste a Saturday to be sick...it would take all week to catch up. Moms don't get sick days. So, if anybody wants to send me free maid service, that would be great....if you can't, oh well, I guess I'll manage.