Can We Talk 2

Sizzlin'New Year's Eve

         2016 definitely ends up with a sizzle, but not in the good sense. It just feels like I've been in a frying pan. Ouch.

         I ended up the year with pink eye! Never had if before. In all my many decades, never had it. But I got it pretty good, pretty fast. In less than 24 hours of the first symptom,my eye, according to the doctor, was lit up like a satellite in space. Of course, it hurts more in adults. It's a bloody mess, yes, but I didn't see anything on the Web as bad as what I saw in my mirror. In my 10X magnifying mirror, I saw 3 colors of pus oozing out, and in several shapes. Poke gently on the lower lid, and a whole block of white could suddenly appear on the eyeball. Some were flat like sheets of paper. Some hung like rectangles off the lashes. There were balls and cubes and cylinders. There there was this solid white goop than hung over my lashes like s a spider web. I was careful because I know it's contagious and can spread. I managed to keep the second eye clear.

         Looking like a cast member of The Walking Dead, pink eye wasn't my only reason to stay home. I had laryngitis, sinusitis, a cough that would scare the most fool-hearty person, and generally felt like a zombie or how we perceive a zombie must feel. And it turns out my trouble breathing wasn't just the coughing. I was starting pneumonia. Buzz kill.

         Then it was Dad's turn. I wasn't really up to leaving the house for any reason, but I had to take my big baby to the doctor. By the time he agreed to go, he was feverish and dehydrated. Which means he was out of his mind confused. I had to call for reinforcements. It took 3 of us to get him ready, to convince him it was 3 in the afternoon, not 7 at night Getting him out in the day light sort of helped his mind. Getting some Tylenol and water into him helped more. His blood pressure was extremely low. He was treated with steroids for his lung, an inhaler, and an antibiotic.Now I'm watching over him, forcing him to eat meals on time, and drink all his water. I even fixed him orange Jello; he likes it, he doesn't think of it as nursing home food.

         That was difficult for all of us to see, but it signaled a change in our relationship. He is truly my responsibility, and I have become his guardian.I can no longer ask if he wants a doctor. I will tell him. When he tells me he's not hungry, I will make him eat something anyway.

         The self side of this is that the outing seemed to have seriously set back my own recovery. I was left exhausted and my symptoms have risen up again. I'm dreading going back to work, but I have to eventually. Tomorrow is as good as any. As for New Year's Eve, I will watch TV and go to bed soon after, Now that's a sizzle.