Nichelle and I are reprising the roles we had when she was so ill, albeit we have swapped who we are playing. I get to play the part of “Nichelle, the inexplicably sick one,” and she gets to play me.
Today is Day 13 with the still-unexplained fever, leg pain, phalanges pain, and swelling. (The swelling in my leg and foot has become quite “interesting.”) None of the tests I’ve had (and there have been many) have found anything conclusive. I will see a rheumatologist soon (I hope before my currently scheduled appointment of July 8 ), and continue to work—much—with my own primary care office.
The forecast seems to call for uninterrupted fever, with a scattered chance of more severe pain, and increasingly widespread swelling.
For example, yesterday I went to church, and Nichelle drove us to Randolph to celebrate Debbie Civil’s 18th birthday and high school graduation. (Debbie is a blind girl in a wonderful Christian family who used to, along with her siblings, ride our bus to church at New England Baptist.)
; "The Civil Family and the Wilcox Family")
The Civil Family and the Wilcox Family. Debbie is the second person to the right of Nichelle. (At this point I could even squat down for the photo, albeit stiffly.)
I hobbed about, but felt pretty good, and was able to walk almost normally for a couple of hours in the afternoon. On the way to the party I slept; on the way back we stopped at the Natick Mall to see the completion of a 7-foot-tall R2-D2 (which we contributed to on Saturday). In the very short walk through the mall, my leg got worse. By the time I went to bed, the pain and swelling was worse.
; "I offed to take this home for them, but they didn't think it would fit in our van.")
I offed to take this home for them, but they didn’t think it would fit in our van. (See the swelling in the leg?)
I awoke at 5:30 a.m. with my leg in considerable pain, my temperature up to 100.9 (at 101.5 my doctor’s office wants to know about it), and that awful everywhere-hurts-because-I-have-a-fever feeling. I was also really hungry. I gobbled acetaminophen and ibuprofen (and cereal), and then slept virtually constantly until noon.
Today I’ve managed a little bit of work, but the fever and finger pain is still there, so I haven’t accomplished very much. I am trying to let my body get the rest it needs, it just doesn’t seem to be helping much.
In addition to work, I’ve just got to get better for our church trip to Strategy Zone on Saturday.
Today I spent from 9:00 a.m. to after 3:00 having a full rheumatological exam, an echocardiogram, a bunch of x-rays on my spine and neck, a test on fluid drawn from my knee, and enough blood-based tests to keep the Red Cross supplied for months. The kids came in (including getting out of school slightly early) for the echocardiogram, which they found fascinating (as I expected). NaNi was my helper almost all day, at her request, and her presence always makes everyone around her more cheerful.
I’m been switched from Levaquin to Amoxicillin, as my rheumatologist believes the Amoxicillin is going to be more effective on what I probably have; so, I probably have an infection secondary to strep.
There are lots of other possibilities, too, which continue to be ruled out bit by bit.
I would really like to be feeling better, but the pain and fever continue. I should start to see some results from the antibiotics soon.