When it rains, it pours...

Valentines Day 2008 and it's subsequent weekend will not be fondly remembered. Soon after the previous post things went rapidly downhill. Here's the synopsis:

Tony's Grandpa Charlie passed away on Valentine's Day. His health had been poor, but this was certainly sooner than anyone anticipated.

After slogging through the rest of our Valentine's work day, we head home and try and decide what to eat. While making our decision, I eat a cookie and drink some milk. (Insert Ron Burgandy: "Milk was a bad choice!") I instantly feel as though someone bashed my stomach with a shovel. Mercifully, the abusers let up for a bit and allowed me to sleep until 4 a.m. at which time they proceded to go for an uptempo second round.

At 4:30 a.m. Tony decided to take me to the ER because the pain level was high (8 of 10) and it didn't make any sense--no fever, didn't hurt worse to touch, etc. Three hours later the ER didn't know what was going on either, but discharged me because they guessed it wasn't going to kill me. Tony had to leave me for a bit to shut down the office. Luckily, Tony's sister (who is CMA in Des Moines) was able to get me an appointment in the very early afternoon. The diagnosis: 90% sure it was gastritis (raw stomach lining due to stress and too much stomach acid), 10% possibility it was something gallbladder related thanks to incriminating family history. Because I hadn't eaten anything, they sent me for an ultrasound to help rule in/out the gallbladder problem later that afternoon. (Side note: my kidney looks like an alien life form.) Dr.'s orders at this point are to exist on a very bland fat-free diet, so I'm currently fueled by chicken broth, rice, Toasty-Os, and Krisped Rice. As hungry as I am, I'm not taking any chances until after the funeral (I've been asked to sing during the service and it's usually assumed the singer can stand).

Fast forward to today: The weather in central Iowa goes from bad to worse while we are in church. The Highway Patrol deems that highway 30 is unsuitable for travel, meaning we couldn't make it to the visitation this afteroon, which was upsetting. In addition, our sister-in-law was making her way back from Omaha when she was majorly rear-ended outside of Des Moines, totalling her less than 3 week old car. She was already nursing a knee problem (her knee is the size of a grapefruit) and had an allergic reaction to the pain meds they gave her for it. Now, she's added whiplash to her list of pains.

To close, the funeral is tomorrow. Thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Debbie Downer

PS: At least the Cyclones won on Saturday, although we did have to witness the ugliest first half of basketball ever. It seemed rather fitting at the time considering everything else that had gone on. An awesome second half was a pleasant diversion from the insanity.