Getting Better

On January 7 Marty said to me, "It's a week into the new year and I haven't been well for any of it!" When he said it, although it was true, I thought he was being a little melodramatic.

A week later when he still wasn't well, I just felt bad for him. Fortunately he's feeling much better now. But it's been one thing after another.

It started... At the end of December. We left Mom and Dad's house and at the time Marty said he was starting to feel a little sick. He spent a couple miserable days congested and with general cold symptoms.

New Year's day he complained of a head-splitting earache. He couldn't get into the doctor that day, but fortunately the next morning he had an appointment with our primary care doctor. But also by the next morning he had a nasty discharge from his ear. Yuck. Diagnosis: ear infection. But because the primary care doc couldn't get a good look at his ear drum and because of some other potential issues, she got him an appointment with Marty's ear-nose-throat doc for that afternoon.

By the end of the day, Marty had prescriptions for antibiotics, pain killer (with codeine), and ear drops.

Now, our past experience with Marty and narcotic pain killers is that they make him red and itchy. So he balances how bad the pain is with how bothersome the side effects are. The next day, Marty was itchy and red and decided it was time to be done with the codeine.

But the red and the itchiness didn't go away. We've seen this before too. In the past it's taken days for it to resolve. But it wasn't resolving. In fact, it kept getting worse. Oh, and did I mention swelling? Hands, ankles, eyes--all swollen.

And then a trip to the ER. Diagnosis: moderate to severe allergic reaction, and his ear was still infected. Apparently Marty's now allergic to pennicillin. So, after a few hours in the hospital, some benedryll, steroids, and epinephrine, we were sent home. A few more prescriptions.

A few more days. Marty's ear stopped hurting. The redness and swelling went away. But then Marty began complaining that his mouth was sore. Terribly painful. It hurt to talk, to eat, everything.

Finally it dawned on me what his latest complaint was--thrush. I did a little internet searching and found that a weakened immune system, steroids, and antibiotics can all contribute the development of thrush. Check. Check. Check.

More prescriptions.

And now, finally, finally, Marty is feeling better. For the most part at least.