Sick as a dog...

Once when I was a kid I told my mom that I was as sick as a dog... I don't know what that means or why I said it, but the phrase has stuck and now whenever someone is really sick we say they are as sick as a dog.

Well... I've been as sick as a dog lately, it's been no fun at all.

I started to get some canker sores in my mouth on Thursday. It happens, quite often with me. I figured that I was just a little stressed out and that's why I was getting them. Then they just started multiplying rapidly. Before I knew it they were all over my throat, roof of my mouth, gums, under my tongue... EVERYWHERE!!! I counted them today, 46 open sores in my mouth. Yep, awful, awful, awful, awful stuff.

I really did think that they were just cankers until it started getting way out of hand. Then on Monday morning I woke up with hives all over my body so I went straight to the doctor to see what they heck was going on. Turns out I have a virus called herpangina. It's from the same virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease, they are cousins shall we say. Except for this one is just in your mouth. Adults are not supposed to get this disease, it's usually just seen in infants and small children. After the doctor looked in my mouth he asked if there was any reason why I would have a suppressed immune system right now? Well... I did have cancer and was on chemo for 6 months... apparently my immune system hasn't quite recovered from it yet. Geez...

So now I'm back on steroids for a little while, trying to get rid of these awful sores. I haven't been able to eat or drink in forever. I force myself when I have to take medications though. It really has been awful. I've now lost 7 lbs since Friday, not my ideal way to lose weight, trust me. Today though I think the sores are starting to heal a little bit which is really good news. I guess I still need to be super careful about keeping my hands washed, hands sanitized if I go to the store or the library. I am really not a germ freak and never have been but this is ridiculous! So time to step it up until my immune system can figure it out.

My fingers are triple crossed that I will be well by the weekend because there is something extremely important that I want to go do. Basically the one thing that I have been looking forward to doing this whole year and I will be crushed if I can't go... they say the virus lasts 5-7 days so I'm really hoping I'm over it by then. We will see...