Monday, August 28, 2006

A time for rest

God sometimes has plans that you don't know about.

For a month or so, I have been having night sweats. The last two weeks, pain in my left lower abdomen has been bugging me. I went to the doctor on Thursday (finally). CT scan normal, but white blood cells are up. Diverticulitis by clinical diagnosis. No, I am not proud to broadcast my colon is inflamed to the world, but it is part of my story.

I was trying to avoid the ER. I work in a hospital, the last thing I want to do is go there in the middle of the night and hang out in a cart getting asked several times when my last menstrual period was. Everytime people ask me what is wrong, I wish they would tell me exactly how much they need to know. Obviously the doctor needs to know the most, but quite often the nurse does too, because they prep the doctor for you. It gets confusing to me whom I tell what. Oh great, I am rambling here.

I wasn't feeling the best on Sunday. I hit the snooze several times. In fact, I almost did not go to church. I was tired, really tired. The sermon was on burnout... interestingly enough. I had this nagging feeling that I should have called in to work, but I also had guilt nagging me. I could not leave my co-workers stranded if it was busy.

I decided to go in to work. My partner hardly got any sleep and almost called in himself. He knew, however, that I was sick and was okay if I went home early (I hope). I had every intention of trying to stick it out to the end because it just did not seem fair for me to go home.

Needless to say, God had other plans. Who knew they would involve a heavy patient? This lady was not just heavy, she was dead weight. No, not dead, just the type of weight like when you go to pick up your cat and it weighs 500 pounds. I had help, but it was not enough, and my mid-left back spasmed. It hurt. An hour later it still hurt. I decided I had better take care of it. ER visit and long story later, I will be off work and icing my back for a few days. I guess I have no choice but to rest.

I pray that I take the most advantage of this time to heal. Which means that I need to get off the computer...