Going into my second semester at Biola I was doing much better health-wise. I was put on a high dose of prednisone (50mg) for a couple months and itraconazole. This helped so much and brought my lung function back up to 56%! My doctors slowly began weening me down on my prednisone. By April I was taking 5mg every other day. The only reason I couldn't stop taking it all together was because my adrenal glands became supressed and stopped making enough of their own cortisol for me to get by on.
By the end of the semester my lung function was back to around 50% and I went on my 9th round of IV antibiotics at the beginning of the summer. They made me feel better, but didn't change my lung function at all.
A couple weeks after finishing those IV antibiotics, something very unexpected happened. On June 15th I developed a headache and a fever of about 101. I figured I was just coming down with something or the infection in my lungs wasn't completely taken care of with the IV meds. That night I woke up around 4am shivering uncontrollably and I had a horrible headache. I could tell I had a high fever, so I got up to take my temperature. It was around 102 at the time so I took some tylenol. I tried to go back to sleep but found it hard to rest at all. By morning my fever had only intensified and my head and body ached more than I had ever experienced before. As time went on, things only got worse. I called my doctor and they said that I should be admitted to the hospital. They suspected I might have an infection in my portacath.
By the time I got to the hospital that evening on the 16th my fever was around 103, I couldn't walk, I was barely concious and I had weird jolting spasms every few seconds. They put me in the emergency room until they could get me a bed and gave me some intense pain medication that was absolutely wonderful.
I was finally moved to my own room where I could sleep the rest of the night. The next morning my fever was about the same and my head and body aches were just as intense. They gave me vikaden, morphine, and finally some other IV pain med that did the trick. The whole time my family was there beside me and my friends whether physically there or not were bringing me encouragement too. John (my soon to be brother in law) read to me from the Bible. I remember him reading from Psalm 91 and how comforting it was. My mom and sisters were there with me too and although I may not have seemed appreciative then, words cannot express how much it meant to me. My daddy was out of town but came later on, and I am so happy he got to come when he did. I had beautiful flowers and visitors from my church that I had never even met. I am SO incredibly thankful to those people who were there and who prayed for me. That alone was a humbling, blessed experience. I am so blessed beyond what I deserve!
Anyway, that next night was without a doubt the worst. My fever was still really high so they covered me in ice packs. It got to the point where I could not even move my hand to my head without feeling like I was going to puke. Alyssa Trammell was there with me most of that night though, putting wash clothes on my head and tending to my needs.
Being in the hospital is a very humbling experience. I was NOT allowed to get up from my bed because of my O2 levels and therefore had to be acquainted with the "bed pan." Yes, that is something I never expected to have to deal with at the age of 19, but then again I didn't expect to get the swine flu when I first heard of the outbreak. Haha... humbling experiences like that are just the thing to make you smile and thank God for the simple abilities that we have and take for granted.
By the next morning, my fever slowly went down and I, very gradually, started to get my appetite back (which is not easy to do with hospital food might I add). The next thing I faced was a nasty cough. I developed a persistent irritating cough that went on all through the night. Definitely haven't worked so hard to breathe ever before. During the next couple days in the hospital my cough gradually improved and my fever came and went, but eventually left completely.
Let me interject here and say that it wasn't until the third or fourth day in the hospital that the doctors found out that I had a case of the flu. When they did diagnose me with the flu they only knew I had Influenza A. I was not diagnosed with the Swine Flu until after I came home!
Anyway, as I gradually got to feeling better, my appetite came back and I could be off of my oxygen the doctors discussed when to let me go home. During the last four days or so I was in an isolation room. I got pretty stir crazy and when I got to come home, I was so thankful to get out of that room. All together, I was in the hospital one week.
In returning home I was introduced to insulin shots! My blood sugar level had risen since I had been in the hospital and now have to be monitored and treated with insulin. The reason for my high sugar levels is mainly due to my taking prednisone (it causes sugar levels to rise). I am currently still taking insulin and am not sure yet when or if I will be getting off of it.
I recentely visited the doctor and my lung fuction is at 47%, which isn't great but almost back to where it was before I went into the hospital (it was at 49% before). The doctors want me at my baseline though which is 55%. I am on 10mg of prednisone every other day now and hope to ween myself down to 5mg e.o.d. within the next month.
Right now my prayer is that my body could make enough of its own cortisol again so I will be able to get off of the prednisone for good. Also that my Aspergillosis could be under control so I won't have to continue to take prednisone.
While I am thankful for all the meds that are available to treat me, I also want to be on as less as possible. Prednisone has some nasty side effects and to be honest, it is very tiresome being on this steriod. I know God has things under control though, I just need to keep trusting.
So yeah, I survived the Swine flu! And God was the one who sustained me through it even when I didn't know I had it!
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