14 October 2019 - Diet Diary - Incredibly stressful week for me, I'm amazed I have managed to remain right around my goal weight, today was 140.8 and hopefully tomorrow (TMI) but I think it is just stress related as the evidence of virus is gone.

Over a week ago (Saturday) was start of what was to be a 4 day visit from a friend from across state, who I went to high school with. JoAnn visits 1-2 times a year and this time came when I was going for eye appointment so she could drive and both of us could visit my son & his family while in Nebraska. She arrived late on the 5th, planned to leave early on the 9th.

Although company isn't my thing, being an introvert and long time single occupant household (except for critters) having someone else in the house always seems odd, we've been friends so long we accommodate each other pretty well. That said, more than 3-4 days begins to stress me and likely her as well. The first 2 days went well, we sat around and talked most of it then on Monday went to NE for my appointment and dinner with my son. The only real stress there was the appointment and being told the second eye might be becoming involved so I have to be back in 2 weeks to have it rechecked. If involved, they will start treating it as well, NOT something I was looking forward to.

We had no big plans for Tuesday so started kind of slow then around noon, Jo started feeling cold then started shaking (shivering) intensely which lasted for maybe 15 minutes. Her BP was quite high but no temperature. When she had mostly stopped shaking, another 10-15 minutes, she thought she could walk well enough to get to the car so I took her to the ER. After the normal processes that involved the dr. checked for signs of a stroke and had bloodwork done and concluded it was most likely a reaction to the antibiotic she had started taking the previous Thursday. He started her on a different antibiotic, told her to return if other issues or a temp over 100 occurred.

Things went downhill from there. She was tired, crashed and that was the beginning of 3 days that she slept probably 20+ out of 24 hours of each. She is a retired RN and didn't express concern over the situation, accepting that it was a reaction to the drug although she did start having some fever the next day. I soon began to stress, not only was someone in my "space" but none of it seemed "right" to me. I have heard that dr/nurses make the worst patients and I believe it is true. I'm thinking there has to be more going on for anyone to be THAT tired but she again assured me it was just running the course, clearing the drug out of her system. Then by Thur the lower intestines got involved and she conceded that perhaps she also had picked up a flu or other virus.

Friday, she was a little perkier, made some phone calls to cancel and appointment she had and to cancel a cruise she had planned to leave on in a couple weeks. She said she was thinking she was not bouncing back very quickly and might end up feeling too bad to go. She decided in the PM to go to the clinic and be checked out again, partly for follow-up but more for a paper trail when she made a claim for a refund of the cruise deposits. She seemed to be feeling a bit better, was moving around more like normal and went to the appointment. The dr. (not the same one as the ER) thought it was likely she did have a virus as there have been some cases with similar symptoms seen at the clinic so she told her to just keep drinking plenty and resting. I would also note at this point that she had eaten basically NOTHING since late afternoon on Tuesday. On returning to the house she took a nap then sat up for a couple hours and talked then nodded off on the couch for a while before going to bed by 9pm.

At this point, I am realizing I am exhausted. It is late and I cannot finish this tonight. I have to sleep now. Will continue tomorrow. Hopefully I will sleep well, I have some tasks to accomplish tomorrow if the weather is pleasant.