What happens when Mom gets sick?

I don't know why it's been such a surprise to me that we've had so many sicknesses this year. After all, I do have 4 children. Children do tend to get sick a lot. In the past 5 years, though, we've hardly had more than a runny nose! In the past 2 months, however, we've had colds, conjunctivitis, sinusitis, coughs, and what I believe was strep. 

It really caused me to become unglued. There is no doubt that I am a worrier. I realized just how much a worrier I am when my children kept getting sick. At one point, I spent a couple of days with a terribly sick stomach - just from anxiety. I had a hard time catching my breath. Wow. Ever heard of casting your cares upon Him? That would have been a good time for me to do that!

Although I didn't get any of the colds, coughs, or conjunctivitis while it was going on ... I did lose a ton of sleep. I was up throughout the night lots with Jonathan and Rosalie and some nights just couldn't sleep because I was listening for them. Eventually everyone returned to good health and I started sleeping again. 

A couple weeks go by, and everyone was well. I developed a scratchy throat ... didn't seem like a big deal, in fact I thought that it might be allergies. (although, spring allergies are not typical for me) Another day goes by and a fever sets in, by late that night I was having difficulty swallowing without much pain. The feeling was all too familiar for me. As a child, I suffered from strep several times a year until I was 21 years old and finally had my tonsils removed. I never got strep again after that. (which on the surface might seem great ... but even still ... removing tonsils is not a good idea, and I would not do it over again if given the chance ... it's a whole other blog topic)

Let me be clear  - I cannot say with 100% accuracy that I had strep throat last week. I never went to the doctor. However, I had all the classic symptoms. I had the headache, fever, white patches in the back of my throat, and a throat so sore, that I wanted to cry just in anticipation of swallowing. 

So, I managed to make it through every other illness the children have brought home this season ... but I ended up with what I believe was strep. My first thought was panic ... because the last thing I wanted was for my children to get it too. I know that I can handle the pain, but I didn't want my children to have to go through it. 

Thankfully, my children have not come down with strep. A day after my sore throat started, Jonathan and Rosalie started getting sick. For Rosalie, it was only a mild cold, and not a big deal at all. Jonathan also had a cold, but it wasn't mild at all. He spent one night with croup and subsequent nights coughing the entire night. So, while this Mom was sick, I was also up several times a night taking care of him. 

Laundry still has to get done.

Meals still have to get cooked.

Bathrooms still need to be cleaned.

Floors still need to be swept.

Dishes still need to be washed.
And I must admit that I have the inability to keep still. Even when I am sick I am constantly finding things to do. I do everything in my power to make my children be still and rest when they are sick, but for some reason can't seem to take my own advice. Even still, some of the normal things didn't get done while I was sick, and thankfully, Rich picked up much of my slack over the week. Now, we are all on the mend. The children had to miss the end of the year Awana celebration. They were sad about it, but we made up for it by having our own rewards and celebration for them on Thursday night. 

About my sore throat ... It took about 7 days to run it's course. I am feeling so much better now. Jonathan is doing much better too. I am thinking about writing some blog posts in the future about how to handle specific illnesses naturally. I have been on the "natural" bandwagon for many years now ... and I have noticed that more and more people are becoming aware of the dangers of mainstream medicines that are significantly overused. I am still learning myself, and have lots of sources including a friend. (who knows much more that I do on the topic of natural health) If I can ever get organized enough, I am thinking about starting a once a week post on natural health topics. I might even try to convince my friend to write some guest posts on the topic.

Have a great Friday ... and a happy weekend!