It's been one long week...

Fortunately for me, Jessi has done a great job of keeping most of you updated on my health, or lack of. I has been one long week for me. It all came to fruition on Tuesday when I felt this little 'scratchy' throat. It did not really feel all that bad. Normally when I get sick, my throat get quite sore fast and then it runs its course. This time, I was not feeling 100% motivated on Sunday, took Monday off of training and came home and took a 3hr nap, and then came straight home on Tuesday and went to bed knowing I was getting sick quick. Fortunate for me, Steve Miller agreed to substitute for me for the rest of the week. I knew that this flu bug has been a tough one, so I wanted to respect that. I also needed to be ready for the race in Canada that I was supposed to do on Sunday... silly pipe dream.

Wednesday came and went without much notice to me because I was in so much body pain with a headache, sweats, chills, couldn't sleep or rest. It was one of those days that I honestly wondered what people did that are 'single.' Without a support system... because I would have called the ambulance for sure.

The downer of all of this is that Tristan Brown, the Team Timex manager, busted hi hump to get me my bike and some clothes to race in for this weekend. And to be honest, I could not be further away from that with how I was feeling. I knew I was sick when I did not even want to look at my new steed and wheels and some really slick Timex clothes. I appreciate it now of course, but then, I would have old it for $10, figuratively of course. Tristan 2 Day aired it to me so I had is asap. And when I finally opened the box, it glowed with some many great things. A post for another time. I just feel so fortunate to have the support of Team Timex. They have been so good to me in such a short amount of time.

Thursday eventually came and I thought it was time to start taking some kind of medication. I went with Ibuprofen just to reduce the chills/sweats and hopefully enable me to get some fluids in me and maybe some food. In less than 12 hours, I lost 6 pounds. On Thursday, I was down 7.5 pounds. Things were not progressing at all. I called Group Health and they were booked... called the Lidgerwood GH, booked too. So I thought I would tough it out one more day. I had to start getting better.

Friday came, and I did not sleep well. I tried to rally and 'pretend' I was better. But all I could do is muster a off balanced stagger to the bathroom where I just sat on the toilet because the seat was cold and I did not think I could stand much longer. I put my face in my hands and closed my eyes thinking this might be a good place to sleep. Ya, I know, really clear thinking. Then I stumbled into the closet and laid down again. I just knew this was not good. I finally made it back to bed.

Jessi came home at about 9:00 and said she had called my dad and he was coming to get me and go to the ER. Wasn't too sure what that meant, but I went back to the bathroom to get ready.

My experience at the Sacred Heart ER was pretty humorous. You can read Jessi's blog because she posted some texts that I sent here while I was there. But in a nutshell, I checked in at 10:15am and left at about 3:15pm. In that time frame I had all my vitals taken, two q-tips rammed down to the back of my throat, 1 q-tip rammed up my nose to the base of my eye socket, gargled numbing solution, had 3 x-rays, 1 cup of liquid motrin, and 2 Styrofoam cups of water because I was dehydrated. The diagnosis? Not too sure. No strep, no flu, and no pneumonia. So what's wrong with me? Doc said that I probably had the flu, but it's probably gone. But I should be better by Monday. So I spent all this time to find out I need to wait until Monday to see how I feel? I m not feeling too confident in the medical field. I know they do their best, but I think they see so many people with the same thing that they quickly diagnose things and move on and really not taking the time to figure it out.

Saturday came with the same excitement, except I was not taking more Ibuprofen and a antihistamine as well. That helped me sleep better and I have been really trying to stay on top of that... and that has really helped. I was able to get out of the house for a short bit to watch Jessi, Steve R. and Matt C. ride out Hwy 2. It was a lot of fun to drive along and take some pics. I never was in a position that I wanted to be riding. These guys were going pretty fast, and I was out of breath just getting out of my car.

Later Saturday the Huskinsons (Jay and Michelle) stopped by and dropped off some chicken noodle soup and a very sweet card. It was so great o have that little treat. I ate it while they were here and we chatted and shared some ER stories. What a kind gesture from them.

That brings us to Sunday where the morning was pretty rough but I steadily got better as the day went on. I decided to join a small group riding from Tim S. house. They were Tim, Phaedra, Jennifer, "Tim's Friend," Steve, and me. I only wanted to test out the bike and ride easy for about an hour. These guy set a pretty stiff pace from the start, and I was just trying to figure out my positioning and trying not to get dropped. I think I ended up riding for about 1:30 and it was a gorgeous day. We'll see ho I feel tomorrow, but I was blowing my nose and spitting up quite a bit of stuff on the ride.

I got home and retreated to a hot bathtub. Then I took another nap. Still not feeling too well. But it's pretty promising when it' 6:30 now and still light. Good feeling.

A big shout out to my lovely wife who has been picking up the slack that has been created by my physical and mental absence. She has also been leaving me little snack bags near the bed with bottles or fluids and snacks for the rest of the day since she knew I would never leave the bedroom. Also for dropping off Emma and picking her up, not to mention all the other activities she has got going on not to mention training. I has been real blessing for me to not really have to worry about too much. I'm not a good patient, I tend to think I will just gt better somehow, but she is the one that ends up picking up the slack when I am sick.

Hope none of you get this bug, or one similar. It has dusted me pretty good. I hope to resume a few workouts this week, but I don't want a relapse either.