A new lease on life...

I missed my weekly post this past week because I was sick.
SICK doesn't even come close to describing what I was.

It started Thursday, October 4th.

I was traveling up North with my amazing husband and our little Scarlett.

This was going to be a fun time away for us. George and I had been working non-stop and we just wanted time to relax together. So, when George found out we had to pour our wine at a two-day event in Monterey off we went.

First stop was the winery which meant staying at a hotel near the winery. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot I felt OFF - that's the best I can describe it.  So, I told George I would lay down in the room and relax.

But I did not relax at all.

Soon my head was pounding. The pain was so excruciating - it felt as if someone was stabbing me in the head with icepicks right behind my ears.

OFF TO MONTEREY:

Though I was in pain we still had to pour the wine at an event. I thought the pain would subside and then I could help my hubby pour and we could continue with our plans. BOY was I way wrong.

The pain continued... for two days - yes TWO DAYS!!!

I am a religious person. I meditate and pray everyday and so I prayed while holding my head. Soon I fell into a very, dark place. My prayer changed somewhere from a prayer of help to a prayer to be taken from this world... this is how great the pain was.

Not too long after that dark prayer I was led to start focusing on the moments in between the pain. Literally, I started counting the seconds in between the stabbing pain in my head. Did you ever watch the original Poltergeist Movie???? If so, it was like when the kids are told to count the seconds in-between the sounds of Thunder??? 

That was the only way I was able to get through those 48 hours... by shifting my attention from the pain and focusing it onto those fleeting moments that I was "Pain Free"

A GHOST VISIT: 
On the second night I had a visit from my Grandmother. She passed away a long time ago but there she was in my hotel room speaking to me and her words were clear - "Go to the Doctor."  The next day I asked my husband to take me to a Doctor in the area - the closest was an Urgent Care. So, off we went, we got there before they opened. We stood outside the door, me, holding my head and crying and my husband peering into the window trying to will them to open early.

Finally they opened and there we were in Monterey in an Urgent Care.

The doctors and nurses there were looking at me like I was crazy - which I can't say I blame them - I was holding my head and with each surge that went through my head I'd wince from the pain. Then, just for added amusement, I had two new fabulous symptoms: Nausea and diarrhea.

The Doctor informed me that I could not have a Migraine because those are hereditary and if I hadn't had it before it probably isn't a Migraine now.  "Gee, Thanks Doc!"

As I stared at her and started questioning what she was telling me she made some off remark to my husband saying that If I was her sister she would take me for an MRI. Then when we informed her that we don't have insurance she said "Well, what's $10,000.00 compared to a life?" "Really Doc, really?!?!"

I was in so much pain and her comments were only helping to send me into a full fledged panic attack. My hubby being as wonderful as he is, he just let her talk. I couldn't strangle her like I wanted to... I instead had to run to the bathroom...

At the end of this visit the Doctor informed me that I had a "Tension Headache" and then she gave me a shot for the Nausea and sent me home with a prescription for Valium and pills for the diarrhea.

I left, not that much more informed clutching my Valium prescription, more confused then when I entered the center and now FULL OF FEAR... which I don't do well - at all!!!!

THAT NIGHT:

We had to leave Monterey - we headed back to the Vineyard. I told my husband I was feeling warm - he touched my head and said I didn't feel warm to him. So in the car for four hours we went. The Valium had begun to set in and I mercifully fell asleep. 

When we arrived at the hotel I laid down and continued sleeping. A couple hours passed and when I awoke the pounding in my head had started again and I told my husband that I felt really warm.

So my husband went out to the store and bought a thermometer.  And you know what?????

I had a fever of 104.2!!!!

WHAT????  Yes, 104.2. When he pulled the thermometer out of my mouth and read that number we both went into overdrive.

I quickly thought about what my Grandmother would do to bring down my fevers when I was a child and I spouted out a laundry list for my hubby: buy a bag of ice, grab an ice bucket, Rubbing Alcohol and ask for a lot of rags from the front desk. When he came back we started in with the cold compresses. It took about an hour but we did get my temp down to 100.3. 

My temperature went down to 97 and up to 103.7 for the following week and a half.  

BACK IN TOWN: 

When we got home I went to see a doctor. This Doctor thought I might have Meningitis - seems there just happens to be an outbreak of it going around in LA. (More fun times for moi) 
She also gave a fabulous secondary prognosis... that I may have the West Nile Virus -  wait... WHAT!?!?

So I had some blood tests and a Cat Scan...

The Good news is that my CAT Scan came back normal and all my Blood tests came back normal.

Bad news is... I still don't know what I had. The doctor said it was a serious virus but couldn't give me much more info than that.

WHAT I BELIEVE:

In life there are no accidents. Things happen for a reason. The reason behind this strange illness hasn't been revealed to me yet - but it will.

I will say that I feel better but I feel different. I literally do not feel like the same woman I was before all this happened. Maybe this happened to shift my life in some way... I don't know.  What I'm gonna do is put one foot in front of the other and remain open for it to be revealed to me.

If any of you have ANY suggestions please send them my way!!!!

xo, DawnMarie