With a whole heck of a lot of pain in my neck and head and correspondingly high levels of dilodid.
It all started last Tuesday (May 20) when I went to bed thinking i had the flu). When I woke up in the morning, my lower lip, from cheek to cheek was numb. As if aliens had whisked me off in the night and done some top-secret dental experiments on me.
Later that week I went to my dentist who, after x-rays and a thorough exam concluded it wasn’t anything that he could see (but he did infer something about a wicked bug that could be in my system doing it.).
Long weekend (Memorial Day) was spent laying low, mostly because I didn’t have much energy to do anything.
I worked on Tuesday and Wednesday and took Thursday off to meet with Oliver’s social worker to prepare for the Termination of Parent Rights Hearing on Tuesday, June 3.
I get home and hand Oliver off to L who takes care of him for the rest of the night while I lay in bed with a fever that vacillates between 100 and 103, depending on how long ago I’d take Advil.
L leaves for work and we arrange it so he’s going to clear his very busy calendar to take car of our son since clearly, I can’t be held responsible to take care of myself.
During the two hours that I’m waiting, I begin chatting with Joansy who points out to me that the symptoms I have also correspond to MENINGITIS.
I freak out and do what any parent in his/her right mind would do: toss my kid on the floor so he won’t get infected (after A WEEK of being around me!).
To make a long story shorter, we went to UCLA ER where I spent from about 9:30am until just before midnight on a gurney IN THE HALLWAY! (So much for controlling contagion!).
While there they did a chest x-ray, a CAT scan, and a spinal tap lumbar puncture (I’m not sure how you feel, but the pretty new words don’t make it any less painful or gory just like Domestic Engineer does little for spiffing up that age-old title!).
Fast forward to midnight on Thursday morning and I was being rolled into a private room at Santa Monica UCLA hospital (SO thankful for that one as this hospital ROCKS!).
Since I’ve been here they’ve done an MRI and an EKG (and a small anxiety attack last night).
I’ve had a doctor in my room 4 times over the last 48 hours. None of them know what’s going on. They all say it looks like Meningitis but my spinal fluid is clear. One doctor said they also ruled out West Nile Virus.
Strangely calming that.
So now I must leave you to your own devices. Play nicely and imagine all the things that WE are missing Oliver learn how to do!
And look at the shitty photo of some beautiful flowers that my dear friend Joansy sent me! Thank you Joansy!
Frank Notes 
