Life Lately: Hey There Champions and Well, That Wasn't Supposed to Happen

 


Hey Besties. Happy Friday. I know that I have been a little MIA lately and usually on Fridays I link up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites, but today I am going to do a little life update. I always find March challenging and while the month started with one of the most fun nights of my life, it also threw me quite a curveball this week. Settle in, grab your favorite beverage and get ready for a little roller coaster of my Life Lately.

Let's start with the Good stuff. A few weeks ago Hockey Guy's team became the state champions. They won four straight games against some very tough teams and won the championship game in overtime. They went into the series as the #10 seed and ended up playing the #11 seed in the final game.



I have watched this team play a lot of hockey over the last three years and they have never played at the level that they played in those four final games. They dug in and pushed through every single game.

It was literally one of the most fun nights of my life. Every player on this team was at their highest level in this series. Every single one of them. A very talented freshman put that final goal in the net and literally the student fans rushed the ice. They brought teachers out on the ice, we went out on the ice and it was just so unreal.





That cup has been passed around school and the team much like the Stanley Cup.





Note, this photo was taken late at night and puffy coats are not slimming on me!



Hockey Grandma and Grandpa come to almost every game!

The skill has been there since he was little. This is almost the same photo from age 9 and the playoffs.






Then, the following week they were ranked in the top ten teams in the Washington, DC area in a little newspaper you may have heard of called The Washington Post. It was amazing and well-deserved. 

Now the plot twist. I mentioned last month that I was having some surgery and this is where things get interesting. I have discussed a few times on this site that I have autoimmune disorders namely Lupus and Sjogren's.

I have been having some problems with my main salivary glands getting infected over the last 14 months and I was supposed to have surgery this week up at Johns Hopkins to go in and see why my glands are getting infected. They wanted to see if they were working, one of my doctors thinks they are very damaged, if there is a blockage or if there is scar tissue. They were also going to try to fix some of this while they were in there. At the very least this surgery was supposed to give me some answers. 

When I get an infection in my glands it is not just some "swollen gland thing." The symptoms come out of nowhere with no warning or the ability to stop them. I get a very high fever and it basically levels me. The swelling is along my jawline and under my chin and is super painful and typically the size of an egg. While people have said to me "at least you don't have cancer" (I can't even with those people--they think they are helpful but they are not--and I am not downplaying cancer either) this is something that I have been battling for a while and when it happens, can take up to six weeks and multiple rounds of antibiotics to fully recover. 

This happen on the right side in March 2009 which then led me to my diagnosis, the right side in December 2021 (during Christmas), left side Halloween night 2022 and left side again the morning of my surgery. I am not kidding.

I was supposed to have the surgery on Tuesday. Monday I was fine until about 9pm. Running Daddy and I were watching The Bachelor and dying laughing at the shower scene with the monkey and the banana (IFKYK). I started to feel like my left glad was swelling a bit. I applied some heat and then went to bed after the show.




At 2:30 am I woke up and my gland hurt so I filled the hot water bottle and then applied heat. I was also really cold overnight. Like freezing.

When my alarm went off at 5 am I took my temperature and stared and stared at the results. Swollen gland on the left side and a fever of 100.1 I tried to call the doctor's office and scheduling but it was too early and we needed to be at the hospital in Baltimore at 8:45 am, which is over an hour away. Hockey Guy looked at me and said "I don't think you are having surgery today mom." I did take a COVID test just to be sure and it was negative.

Running Daddy and I decided to go to the hospital and let them tell us what would be done. We are not medical professionals.

I was very upfront when the nurse, sweet Emily, took me back in pre-op. Vitals...fever 100.8 and I think they said my heart rate was 125. She went and got the anesthesiologist who told me that between my fever and my heart rate there was no way he was putting me under anesthesia. My heart rate indicated that I had a systemic infection that my body was fighting and they were calling my surgeon. 

At this point Running Daddy was there when my surgeon, whom I have only seen once, came back and told me that we needed to reschedule. I showed him the swelling and said "now you know what it looks like when this happens." He has my MRI, he has my records, now he has seen the infection as it is happening. 

My doctor asked if I just wanted to follow up with my primary physician, which is a fair question, and apparently, I shot him a look and said "no, I want you to call me in an antibiotic." I did ask Running Daddy the next day if I looked at the doctor and with a "FU(K You" look when I said that. He said...yes, yes you did but it was ok. Listen, I know I am pretty much sunshine and light, Running Daddy says I am a Disney princess, but there was no way I was leaving that room without someone calling me in an antibiotic right then and there. I also yelled to him what antibiotic it needed to be because I am allergic to two different classes of antibiotics, so I needed an antibiotic quickly and it needed to be the right one.

Besties, my surgeon didn't do anything wrong and he is a super big brain guy, but we need to advocate for ourselves. I was not waiting to get an appointment with my primary doctor for at the earliest later that day. I wasn't leaving Baltimore without an antibiotic. 

I basically slept the whole way home and Running Daddy got my meds for me. He came home with the instructions from my favorite pharmacist. When you have health problems you have a favorite pharmacist. I then slept almost the entire day and night.

My fever is mostly down. My swelling is down a little and I am now waiting for the reschedule of my surgery. 

Besties, I am a planner. I worked really hard in the past few weeks to get sleep and eat right heading into surgery week. This week, I had everything ready to go down to bringing my own gluten-free recovery snacks. I never saw this one coming and that is the challenge of autoimmune disorders.

I know this post was long and took a turn that was a total downer. The night before my surgery I told Running Daddy that I thought I should post about my surgery because I didn't know another person on the planet or internet who has had a sialendoscopy and had no idea what it would be like on the recovery side. He encouraged me to do that and I will be doing so as soon as the surgery happens. 

That is Life Lately. This is real life. This month took me from such a fun few days and weeks to back to my health struggles. Right now I need to focus on getting the infection in check and getting some answers. 

I hope you have a Good weekend. I hope to head out to our school's musical this weekend if I am up to it. 

I should be back next week with What's Up Wednesday, Monthly Musings with Holly and possibly a real Friday Favorites.  

16 comments

  1. I am so sorry you are dealing with this and yes, I agree with Running Daddy. You are a Disney princess. Best of luck with surgery and recovery. Plus 😡 who would say something like that about at least you don’t have cancer? Shame on them! Had to say that! Hugs and Love

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    1. Thank you for your kindness. Unfortunately, I have had more than one person over the years say that to me. Gotta make the choice to spend time with those who give Joy right. Appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.

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  2. So sorry to hear that you are having to deal with all of this.Sending much love and prayers xxx

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  3. Oh friend I am so sorry to read this. My prayers will continue and I hope that you heal quickly so they can reschedule the surgery- it's not fair. On the flip side I am so happy for hockey guy and all of you! Do you think he will continue playing after high school? Love following along on his journey! XO

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    1. Thanks Holly, my ever sweet blogging partner. He is looking at college hockey and the club route. This kid was born to be a hockey player. Have the Best weekend!

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  4. Glad you advocated for yourself! I’m keeping you in my prayers and hope you are feeling better. So great about your son and his team!! Amazing! Take care.

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    1. Oh my sweet friend that I may have known the longest in this Krazy town! Thanks for your kindness. I loved seeing you last week.

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  5. That's is awful! Prayers that this gets solved once and for all! ♥️

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  6. Aw, I am so sorry to hear that you had to postpone your surgery but good for your for advocating for yourself! Congrats to your son and his team; that is quite an accomplishment!!

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  7. So sorry to hear about this and hope you are feeling much better and getting rest this weekend.

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  8. I just came to your blog from a Friday favorites link and just came home from the hospital yesterday with my husband who had a similar surgery (I think). He has had several infections and would swell behind his ear and they were from his saliva gland which had a cyst on it. They knew this going in from a CT scan so he has a rather large incision under his ear which we knew he would have. He stayed overnight one night and is doing great! Minimal pain managed with pain medicine so far. He was afraid chewing would be painful but so far it hasn't been. The term for his surgery is Parotidectomy if you want to look that up. Your infections sound way more severe than his were, and they were bad enough. Hope you're able to get it taken care of soon!

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    1. First I want to say that your husband is recovering well and that you both had some time to relax this weekend

      I so gravely appreciate you taking the time to comment and share your husband's story. I literally don't know anyone who has had this type of surgery so your sharing means so much.

      Feel free to reach out to me at goodbetterbestfood@gmail.com if you have any if Good advice.

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  9. I'm so sorry to hear this happened. I'm glad that you advocated for the surgeon to give you antibiotics. I also pray your surgery gets rescheduled both as soon as possible, but also, at a good time for you to be away from work. I too am a planner and get how stressful this can be. But take care of YOU. Sending love and prayers.

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