A brief time-line of events that transpired at the House of Horne this Christmas season.
Monday, Dec 19: I worked until 8:30 p.m. to clear the deck at work and free myself up to enjoy some time off with my family.
Tuesday, Dec 20: Rather than finalizing all the Christmas shopping (though we did work on it), Tricia and I went and looked at a house for sale. Not that we had been planning to move this soon (eventually, yes, to be closer to the school we are using).
Wednesday, Dec 21: Had our home assessed for sale and put an offer on the other house. Oh yeah, still need to finalize some Christmas preparations. We decided we would hit it hard on Thursday.
Thursday, Dec 22: In the morning, I casually reached for something on the kitchen counter and had something go terribly wrong in my mid-back. Seconds later, I was on the floor in the fetal position. Countless Advil later, I decided to tough it out and run the errands I had planned to accomplish that day. The pain was severe but I felt it was probably manageable. Tricia headed out with a couple of the boys, Nicolas went to spend time with his Aunt Jamison, and Abigail and I set out to do some shopping.
Halfway through our errands Abigail began complaining that her stomach was upset, so we sat around at a Sam’s Club for awhile to let it settle. It didn’t, so we finally made a break for home. About a mile away from our destination, Abigail began throwing up into a plastic bag we had from one of the stores we had visited. She continued throwing up until midnight.
Friday, Dec 23: My back had deteriorated, so I headed to the doctor. I was prescribed Flexeril and an anti-inflammatory and told to more or less stay in bed. So I did. That left Tricia to care for the family and get ready for a Christmas gathering at our house by herself. Not good.
Saturday, Dec 24: Massive preparations proceeded for a Christmas feast, while I remained doped up in the bedroom. Tricia’s sister came over to help with the preparations and spend the night, which probably helped Tricia keep her sanity. In the afternoon, I spiked a fever that continued to climb with no regard for the Tylenol I took. In consultation with my doctor (by phone), we became worried that perhaps the problem wasn’t my back but actually was my kidneys (the pain was in the right spot).
So, on Christmas Eve, rather than attending the Christmas Eve service at church, Tricia took me to the emergency room, where we stayed until the first few minutes of Christmas. It turned out the fever was due to a completely unrelated viral infection and that yes, the pain was in fact due to my back, not my kidneys.
Sunday, Dec 25: I remained in bed rest as Sandra and Tricia took the children to church. After the service, we had numerous family members join us for a feast of sorts. Tricia continued her remarkable balancing act of taking care of me and the children while helping facilitate the food preparation. Doped up on a muscle-relaxant, anti-inflammatory, and pain killer, I joined everyone at the table for dinner.
That was when Jonathan began vomiting. That continued until around 1 a.m., at which point the diarrhea started, which lasted through most of the night, which brings us to Monday…
Monday, Dec 26: After almost no sleep, Tricia took care of Jonathan and I as we both lay in bed all day. My back was still doing very poorly.
Tuesday, Dec 27: Jonathan began the day by throwing up again, but then began to improve quickly. Likewise, my back started showing real progress. That evening, I actually got up and spent some time out and about.
On Tuesday, Tricia also took Josiah to the doctor, as he had been suffering from cold-like symptoms for the better part of two weeks. Josiah was diagnosed with another case of thrush. Perfect.
Wednesday, Dec 28: In the wee hours of the morning, Tricia began throwing up, and continued in that vein through the night. By dawn, she was more or less done but utterly wiped out from the suffering and lack of sleep. Right about then I began having severe diarrhea, and began throwing up around 8:30 a.m. We received tremendous help in our time of need. Nicolas was whisked off to spend the day with his Aunt Jamison and Uncle Andrew.
I continued vomiting until noon, but never really felt recovered and continued to have severe diarrhea. During the afternoon, Stephanie Clemmons came by and helped keep the house together and the children occupied while Tricia and I both napped. Around 9 p.m. I finally gave up and went back into the bathroom and forced myself to vomit to try to get some closure. That lead to a couple more sessions, but by 10:30 p.m. I was actually feeling better. The only downside was that my back got out of sorts again.
Nicolas ended up spending the night with his aunt and uncle, and Tricia and I managed to get some decent sleep that night.
Thursday, Dec 29: Here we are, writing this summary, and rather hoping there will be no need for further entries… I’m back on Flexeril, but hopefully my back will recover quickly.