Yesterday morning Matt had to get some bloodwork done, so we got up early (well, early for us) and got that taken care of, and then went to brunch. When we got back, Matt said, "Oh man, I think I might be coming down with something. I'm not entirely sure... I just feel kinda off." That was around 1:30.
By 5:00 Matt had a 99.4 degree fever, and by 8:30 it was 101.7 and he was praying that the sweet lord would just let him die. He had the power-pukes of doom (though he admittedly felt better after Round 3), and the cold/hot/ugh of the fever, and this awful cough that came from the pit of his soul.
Around 11pm my pal Kerry texted me and mentioned that she had the similar plague the day before, but thankfully it seemed to be a 24 hour thing because she felt 89% better.
Matt debated taking something to knock his fever down, but we agreed that we shouldn't mess with millennia of evolution, and that we should just let the fever cook out whatever it needed to. We did give him a delicious Wal-Som to knock him out though, and he slept fairly well through the night despite a few puke-breaks.
He woke up this morning and his fever is back down to 99.4, and he feels better than he did yesterday but is still bed-ridden.
I am avoiding him as much as possible, which means I'm sleeping in the guest room, and staying out of our bedroom unless I absolutely have to go in there to bring him something. Poor guy.
This wouldn't be a big deal, but this weekend is a Really Important Weekend.
On Friday, Matt has his very first gig with 53rd & 3rd, which is a brand-new Ramones tribute band that he's the lead singer for. Matt has never fronted a band without also holding a guitar before, and he's nervous (though very prepared). He reaaaaaally doesn't want to be sick for this. I suppose the good news is that the gig is at Bar XIII, which is about 7 minutes from our house, and if worse came to worst, he could show up, sing, and leave. This isn't what we want, of course.
On Saturday, Matt and I are part of this really neat show called "Shine a Light," which is a 50+ musician fundraising show that raises dinero for the Light Up The Queen Foundation, which raises money for Delaware schools that lost their arts/music funding. It also runs a jazz school, and does some other cool things, too. It's held on the big stage downstairs at The Queen, and it's almost already sold out. Tickets are $125 each, and VIP tix are $250... so it's a pretty big to-do. Anyway, each year's concert has a theme, and this year we're doing all songs from 1969. It's a prestigious thing, and this is our first year being a part of it. As Freshmen members, we are singing backups and are in the horn section... so no lead singer or guitar duties, but honestly, we really like being right where we are.
Anyway, Saturday's show is an all-day thing... we have to arrive by 3 so we can be all sound-checked and cleared off the stage by 6 because that's when the house opens for the VIPs. The music starts at 8.
The downside to this show is that there are over 50 players involved, so there are going to be over 50 musicians crammed into the backstage area where there is not enough room for even 20 people, really... plus I'm sure many will be drinking throughout the day/night... and as an introvert it's hard to endure not having a place to be quiet where there isn't a person (drunk or not) trying to talk to you... but it's a billion times worse when you're sick. So I'm thinking about bringing a pillow or some kind of cushion so we can sit in the stairwell where (hopefully) nobody else will be.
As for me, I feel like my body is working really hard to fight something. I'm doing everything in my power to make sure it wins.
We were in Austin all last week for work and got home on Saturday, and then Matt had a Ramones rehearsal at 10:00am on Sunday because we had an all-day dress rehearsal for Shine a Light that started at noon and went until around 7 or 8-ish (can't remember). So between travel, being on an airplane, being in two rehearsal spaces crammed with people and sharing mics and stuff and just running running running, it's no surprise the plague got a foothold.
So, we're hoping Matt feels better ASAP.
In the last bit of news: I'm typing this in procrastination, because I'm an idiot and always wait until the last possible second to get my books in shape in time for my accountant to do my business taxes and then my personal taxes. I see my accountant tomorrow at 2pm, and I am just now starting to hand-type in all of my bank and credit card transactions for the year, because naturally I am too cheap to spend the $9.95/month for Quickbooks access.
Anyway, if I owe you an email or some kind of reply, it'll likely be next week sometime. I've gotta get through this week and the weekend.
xo
Curious what Annie Mollo has to say about this. She's all smart n' knows bodies n' stuff.
Gentle supports for people who have neuropathy might generally include massage, warm epsom salt baths, and acupuncture.
And no matter what ails you, assessing your overall diet for adequate micro- and macro-nutrients is never a waste of time. Even tiny changes in your diet can have big positive effects—iodine is one example of that. Change your intake by mere micrograms and you can feel quite different. But if you're not a big bio sci nerd hobbyist like me, your best bet would be to find a registered dietician whose philosophy encompasses integrative and functional medicine. You could also see a nutritionist, but that title/profession isn't regulated in the same way (or sometimes at all) as a dietician. That said, one of the most brilliant practitioners who ever helped pull me out of a bad-health cesspool was a nutritionist. So YMMV.
I'm being uncharacteristically blase about this, I know. I think my recent back surgeries are connected and I'm in a bit of a bad place with that as well, just not feeling the improvements I was hoping for, and then being told the screws could be touching nerves really made me question the point of all of this. (I know I'll eventually settle down but it just makes me uncontrollably emotional right now and my response is to put it in a box until I can breathe).
I didn't get into all this in the post because sometimes I don't want to keep talking about The Stuff I Keep Talking About, but in the end it's really a big part of what is going on with me, so... yeah.
I did the nutritionist route waayyy back in the early days, but definitely need to revisit it. It's possible new information will result after a 10 year period. It's also never bad to eat good, yo. I believe in food as medicine, you are what you eat, etc, but I am often a lousy pharmacist. Thank you for the gentle reminder. <3
Oh, and hot baths are definitely a win! As are good supportive friends. XOXO