being sick | The Tales Of Princess Mikkimoto

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On Hitting The Wall

July 20, 2010

I was all ready to write a post about how great I have been feeling and how having diabetes has truly saved my life.

That was until I woke up this morning.

After days of going non-stop and two nights with very little sleep, I felt like I had run full tilt into a brick wall. Once I tested my blood sugar, the elevated numbers proved how I was feeling.

I have mentioned previously how Ben, Matt and I go and go. And then get up and go some more. In actuality I’m the one that’s always going. Ben has his downtime and Matt definitely has his. But I love my life and my friends so whenever I can squeeze in an activity I do.

The thing is, ever since discovering my diabetes and living such a substantially healthier lifestyle, I have energy! SO MUCH ENERGY! I used to only be able to do one thing a day and that would wipe me out. Or I’d take a two hour nap in the middle of a Saturday.

Now? If I even think of napping it’s a good 20 minutes. When I decide to just clean the kitchen, before I know it the whole downstairs is picked up, dusted and vacuumed. (and no, I swear I’m not on speed. Just not loaded down with fat and sugar.)

I was talking with a good friend the other day who is also crazy busy during the week. She makes sure to take one day out of the weekend to do nothing. Maybe a workout or maybe some laundry but otherwise truly nothing.

I realized, I don’t do that. Ever.

My day of doing “nothing” consists of cleaning the house, four loads of laundry, taking Ben and his friend to the pool, dinner with my parents, a huge Target shop and finally a drink with Matt at our local bar. That was the day I said I did “nothing.”

So it comes as very little surprise that after ignoring all sorts of hints from my exhausted body, this morning it went on a full strength strike.

I have to cut back. I have to make real time for myself. It doesn’t mean I have to sit on the couch and gain back all the weight I’ve lost (that idea makes me nauseous) but I have to schedule real DOWN time. Recharge those batteries.

Because even though having diabetes has helped me feel so much better and have energy I haven’t had for ages, it also means that if I run myself into the ground and get really sick, things will be worse than they might be for a non-diabetic.

Therefore I am making a pledge right here and now that just because there is a spot open on the calendar doesn’t mean I have to fill it. I’ll start looking at the whole week, what we have planned and making sure I have at least two nights a week for downtime.

And when the urge strikes to go go go I’ll re-read this post, and remember the feeling of hitting that wall. Because it hurts.

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being sick, diabetes, life

A Vacationing We Did Go

November 2, 2009

Despite my mother’s tooth pain, my 25% lung capacity (which made sightseeing go something like this: walk walk cough cough walk walk cough cough) and Northwest/Delta’s merge almost causing us to miss both of our flights (more on that in another post), we survived our quick little jaunt to D.C.

In addition to having a great visit with my uncles, and my friend Anne, we did many of the classic touristy things. When in Rome
One of the best was seeing the monuments at night.

lincoln at night

If you ever get a chance to do this, DO IT! President Lincoln never looked so fine.

abe

Speaking of Abe, my father and Ben decided to take in a show with the ol chap. I hope it’s a good play and ends well.

DSCN2292_5

Oh dear.

lincold died

Friday afternoon we got our tour of the White House but security wouldn’t let me take my camera. I really didn’t want to throw my weight around but sometimes you have to do what’s necessary. So I pulled one very large fellow with one very large gun aside and explained, “Excuse me sir but perhaps you don’t know who I am just by looking at me, which is totally understandable. Does Princess Mikkimoto ring a bell? No huh? Well anyway, you see I have this blog and I need to take pictures of this tour for my readers and Oh OK. Um, ouch! Wow, you are very strong! And, er, that hurts my arm. OK yes, I’m moving right along. Thank you for your time”

The White House (the tiny part we saw) was amazing and very regal. And HA! Look who we ran into!

DSCN2306_2

Our new BFF’s! Since I didn’t have a camera Michelle let me use hers. And the President was having a rough day (health care reform is hard!) so he asked Ben to answer some phone calls for him and give a quick press release to the media.

ben at desk

ben's press release

Once outside Ben’s new office the White House, we ran into this cowboy who escaped from Texas. The kid used his new powers to give that fella a piece of his mind.

ben and bush

Strangely enough our Obama Halloween party invitation got lost in the mail, so we decided to have our own party. Candy from the hotel lobby store, plus hotel towels, plus whatever we had in our suitcases plus some imagination equaled a rockin’ good time!

Here we have a zoombie Cubs player and some sort of gypsy fortune teller…

ben and i dressed up

Super Grandpa and an Indian Princess – from India.

super grandpa and indian princess

After saying good-bye to all our new friends,

me and johnny

mom and harry

DSCN2314_2

we headed back to Madison.

Thanks Washington. You were swell. See you again soon.

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being sick, Ben, my parents, President Obama, trips

I Survived The Swine Flu and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt

October 28, 2009

Hello from the other side!
So yeah, that was fun.

By getting this flu and in turn, giving it to my son, I was just being a good mother. You see, Ben told me last week that he wanted a day alone with just me. Well kid, how about THREE!? Just you and me, Buddy. Nope, no one else can even come into this apartment!

Oh and how about during those three days we lay comatose on the couch. Even better let’s watch D3: The Mighty Ducks more times than Emilio Estevez. Because really, nothing says “mother and son bonding” like both of us sleeping for 12 hours a night, going through three boxes of Kleenex, and nagging each other to “drink more water!”

I thought I was going to go stir crazy being cooped up inside for days on end but really, I was too sick to care. My parents brought over supplies but because I didn’t want them to even THINK of getting this, when they came over I opened the door just a crack with a scarf over my face. A dramatic Michael Jackson impression? Perhaps but guess who ISN’T sick!

Yesterday when Ben and I were feeling good enough to come up with hair-brained ideas (and neither of us had fevers for 24 hours so we were officially non contagious) we decided to get out of the house and go to the mall. Nothing perks those spirits like some retail therapy!

However the minute that we got out of the car, I felt like I was part of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids?” This place was HUGE! The most movement I had done for the past five days was from the couch, to the kitchen, break at the couch again, to the bathroom, back to bed. Just getting through the first store was like walking to Chicago; uphill. Don’t even get me started on going from Boston Store to JcPenney’s. It was so bad we had to take a break and sit down on one of those benches. I finally understand who those things are for. Victims of The Swine. After ‘Penney’s the boy and I both looked at each other and said, “Let’s go home.”

Even though I’m still as strong as a wet noodle and can’t laugh without hacking up a lung, the worst is over. I even made it into work. For a day. Because tomorrow we head out to DC to celebrate Halloween with the First Family. This whole time we were so worried Ben and I wouldn’t make the trip but HA! Take that H1N1! Punk!

However I did tell my parents we should add in some time because if Ben and I thought the mall was big, the airport is going to seem like walking across Africa.

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Becky's Craziness, being sick, Ben, trips

H1N1 Ain’t No Fun

October 25, 2009

It all started on Thursday night. It had been a very stressful week so when I was feeling run down and semi sick, I just thought it was the weight of a bad week on me.

Until I woke up in the early hours of Friday with a cough deep in my lungs that burned like lava. “Shit,” I muttered to myself. I knew immediately this wasn’t just a normal chest cold.

Regardless Friday morning I dragged myself into work since I had already called in sick once that week and thought maybe I would feel better as the day went on. Ironically Josh (my coworker) was out sick, so I stayed but as every hour went by I knew that Matt and I were going to miss The Boys birthday party. Yes, they are such a cute couple they even have birthday’s just days apart. ALthough I was super bummed to miss it,I figured nothing says, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” like hacking up a lung all over the artichoke dip.

Saturday I woke up feeling OK. Little did I know that was the best I would feel all day and it would be downhill from there.

We had plans Saturday night to go to my friend Darcy’s house for dinner. So around 4:00 pm I made the accent up Mount St Helen’s, or my stairs…it was hard to tell. I took a long hot shower that was an almost an orgasmic experience, until I finally decided I should leave some water for the fish and got out. Once out of the heaven I called a shower, it took everything I had to just put a towel around my hair and get on my robe. As I collapsed into bed I knew there was no way we were going anywhere that night.

Instead of spending the night with friends, food and wine, it was a night in with my boys, dressed like a homeless person clutching my tea. By Saturday night the body aches were so bad and my fever so high I was delirious. At one point I asked Matt for more ibuprofen. Five minutes after I took it, I looked at him and asked for ibuprofen. “Honey, I just gave it to you,” Matt said. That’s when I declared that I was Done With The Day and took myself to bed. Where I proceeded to sleep for 12 hours.

Today I woke up feeling much better. Now I just feel like I have a bad cold which I would take any day over the previous feeling of my lungs being filled with cement on fire.

However, as each minute I feel better, there is a little boy on the couch next to me who’s sinking deeper and deeper. And I need to figure out how to not go insane by the fact that I haven’t left the house for more than 48 hours with many more ahead of me.

Even though I never made it to Urgent Care, I did talk to a friend of mine who is a doctor and pronounced me a H1N1 victim. Serves me right that I would get this weeks before work vaccinated me. Remember I was the one who cried pig! I was the one who called this just a big media hype.

So let my lessons learned be your knowledge. 1) you don’t have to guess if you have the Swine Flu. You will know. Just like you don’t have to guess if you are in labor… you know! And 2) it’s not just a media hype. If you have a chance to get vaccinated, DO! Trust me, this is a nasty virus which I would have been so happy to avoid.

Now everyone cross your fingers that this passes through my family in time for us to catch our flight to D.C. on Thursday. The Obama’s are counting on us.

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Becky's Craziness, being sick, Ben