Hi, everyone! It’s me, your neighborhood Typhoid Mary (who, j/k, isn’t actually contagious in the slightest because- again- I’m not a mosquito). But it’s me! Kind of. It’s hard to see past these layers of under eye-concealer and blankets wrapped around my noggin. Picture Jacob Marley.
If Jacob Marley didn’t look quite so well-rested.
Also- hey! Guys! An alarming number of you read the previous post’s title and laughed like, “Oh man, West Nile. You must be feeling SICK. How’s your cold? Jokester.”
No. For reals. West Nile. I’m sure that’s what I get for being the world’s best hyperbolist [see sidebar], but it’s starting to feel a little Boy Who Cried Wolf-ish. Or Peter and The Wolf. Which is the one where the boy died of West Nile? That one.
So. Four weeks later, I’ve still got West Nile, but in an annoyingly invisible way. (Unless you see the concealer, blankets, and hand-lettered sign I attach to my hoodie detailing my current ailments. Oh, and I’m also whining really loudly. That’s what we in the business refer to as a “tell.”)
No fever. No flu-like grossness. A few immuno complications but really, where’s the fun if you can’t navigate those? And I will tell you this: I will never again brush off anyone’s complaint of chronic illness, be it fatigue or pain or anything else invisible. (I don’t remember doing it in the past, but now I’m really on the Awareness Train. Choo choo!)
Because quiet diseases suck. (P.J. might disagree on the whole “quiet” bit as relates to his current spouse, but not the suckitude.) Anxiety, depression, body aches, pea soup-like fog, and all of their junky friends are part n’ parcel with this- and other- illnesses. And there’s nothing like being aware of how anxiety and depression and exhaustion are robbing you of good, quality time with your children (and, uh, job) to bring on the anxiety, depression, and exhaustion.
My days pretty much look like this: Pajamas, drive kids to school, pajamas, pajamas, work in bed, cat nap, pick up/drop off, pick up/drop off, work in car, pick up/drop off (while wearing pajamas), power nap, dinner prep, bedtime routines, BED. On nights where I have to work, it looks exactly the same until bedtime prep- and then it’s caffeinate, caffeinate, power nap in the car (if not driving), makeup reapplication, (oh come on, maybe a little bit more makeup), event joy, sleep on the way home (if not driving), new pajamas. Occasionally I have an awesome (read: present) amount of energy in the mornings and we try to go do stuff as a family. Like apple picking or handing my kids pants for school or putting the loaf of bread directly on the counter. Occasionally I follow up such endeavors with a three-hour nap.
We sat down on the ground for a bit after this one.
Jasper asks me daily if we can go to the park. The answer is usually no, because = floppy head. So we end up playing out back with his sisters after school, me face-planting on a blanket and them…doing something else, I imagine. And then Jasper will come pat me on the head and say “Mama is TIRED.”
Cue sound: And the cat’s in the cradle and silver spooooon…
So yeah, to answer your question- I’m fine, thanks! But if anyone has any recommendations for good supplements, like B6, ribose, D…morphine…
I’m all ears.
I probably won’t be able to hear you through the blanket hat, but we’ll both know that we both know we had a pleasant, heartfelt, informative moment together.
Be a pal and excuse the drool.
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