The Rugged Maniac left my radar Friday night… Some days it’s hard to keep my goal front and center anyways.  I have a few other things on my plate, a four year old who is in an amazing truth serum, overcoming fears of everything, fit throwing phase; his big brother who loves to incite fits just so he can watch his brother get in trouble, trying to run a business and catch up a stack of paperwork that looks a little like the Eiffel tower… but it’s all good, a normal day until … it wasn’t.  It all started Friday afternoon. The four year old, my hubby and I were headed to Camas to pick up my stepkids from school.  We wanted to do something fun, something different and something that wouldn’t cost a ton of money.  I sat in the car surfing the web on my trusty I-phone for cool ideas.  And then I found it… the Rose City Dog Show… a huge dog show… 175 breeds …$20 for a family admission.  My children LOVE dogs and we had never gone to a dog show so it was a great idea.  We headed toward the expo center and then it got even better, we were so close to closing that all the money takers had gone home… no parking cost and security waved us in… sweet … free is even better than $20.  We wandered around the now sleepy dog show.  Massage… I wasn’t expecting that option … but there it was a booth offering massage $20 for 15 minutes.  My neck had been sore all week so massage sounded AMAZING… but we had these three kids to keep entertained… and I knew my hubby would love a massage too…what if we split one 15 minute massage… 7.5 minutes each?  It was a start right?  And so the end began. I laid face down on the massage table.  Soon my nose was plugged but my neck and shoulders were loose.  As the massage ended and we meandered away I noticed that my throat was sore and my head hurt. Where did that come from?  Oh well,  I just need to flush my system, a bit of fluids and I should be fine.  But, I wasn’t.  Within an hour I felt like I had been attacked by some sort of horrific influenza and by the time I got home I was miserable.  Headache, chills, body aches.  After a restless night I woke up feeling worse. Somehow, the massage had opened the way to some sort of horrific sickness.  My full day of our volunteer ministry and a hike didn’t sound too likely at this point.  My dear husband, who doesn’t believe in sick days convinced me to shake it off and push through which I gradually did.  With our plans altered by my suddenly weakened state we found ourselves having coffee and then headed to Cascade Locks to visit some dear friends who are about to venture to South Korea.  As the day progressed my mystery illness returned.  By Sunday morning my right tonsil looked like a rotting plum tomato, big and red with lots of disturbing white patches.  I hate being sick. Hate…hate…hate being sick. 

But like most things in my life I approach being sick like a task.  I can afford to be sick for the next 36 hours.  In order to get better in 36 hours what do I need to do?  How do avoid the cost of going to the doctor?  I need a plan… and so it was.  My plan was very simple… lots of fluid, salt water gargles, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, garlic. Pretty much any immune booster / natural antiviral / antibacterial substance I could find.  This approach completely ruins any kind of scientific approach.  I have no idea what caused the plum tomato tonsil to turn to a rotten grape tomato by Monday morning but it worked… I wasn’t healed but was healthy enough for a walk on Portland’s waterfront and tonight … I almost feel human.  And I haven’t been to a doctor.  I don’t have a prescription for antibiotics.  Which I like.  Because while antibiotics are life savers they are chemicals that I would rather save for when they are truly needed.  

So that was my weekend.. so much for working out… but at least I feel better… 

Good health to you! 

PS.. No part of this post is intended as medical advice.  If you are ill please contact your physician…

 


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