It's not always fibro!

I've had a time of it since my last post.

I might have been coming along remarkably well in that first week of recovery, but it was downhill from that point.

The day after that follow-up visit with the surgeon, I had a fibro flare-up, presumably because the trip into the city was too much for me.  So I spent the Wednesday on enforced R&R while my body recovered.

On Thursday -- my massage day -- I was feeling much better although I had started having some lightheadedness.  Enough to mention it to my husband who suggested I check my blood pressure.  It was 95/64, which is abnormally low for me but not outside the "normal" range for an adult.  I wasn't too concerned, but I cut my BP med in half, figuring I didn't need to take something to lower my BP if it was already that low!

On Friday, I again woke feeling like I was in a fibro flare-up.  Now, it's very unusual for me to have a flare-up on top of a flare-up but there's a first time for everything.  I spent another day on enforced R&R.

Saturday morning I just had to get cleaned up because I simply couldn't bear myself any longer.  I washed my hair by leaning over the bathtub and using the spray arm (I had done this earlier in the week with no consequence).  When I finished, the dizziness was so bad I had to call John to help me back to the bedroom.

There was no way I could then take the bath that I had been planning to take.  And I had to cancel the planned visit from my little chickadee and family.  I had so been looking forward to seeing them!

A blood pressure check revealed it to be 96/58 and John banished me to my bed for the day.  I made sure I ingested salt throughout the day and eventually got my BP up to 104/61 by 5:00 pm.

That BP held through to Sunday morning but by 10:45 am it had plunged to 72/52 and I was really not feeling well.  I continued to ingest salt but the best I could get my BP up to was 88/52.  Finally, around 4:00 pm I called TeleHealth Ontario, outlined what had been going on and they insisted on calling an Ambulance to take me to hospital.

The attending physician thought we were dealing with a cellulitis (skin infection) so she immediately started me on an antibiotic and she drew an outline of where the infection was evident.  She sent me home with a prescription for 10 days of antibiotic treatment, a requisition to have bloodwork done in the morning, and instructions to see her at the clinic the following morning so she could track the infection's progress.

I woke at 2:00 am Monday morning and knew that I was already feeling better.  The difference was amazing.  I had expected to need antibiotics for a little while longer before seeing much change.

By the time I saw the doctor in her office I was markedly improved.  When she checked her ink outline, she was amazed to see how far it had subsided in such a short time.  That meant she had "guessed right" and she was very pleased to have done so.  She explained that if these infections are caught early enough, antibiotics work very quickly.  Otherwise, they take a little longer to take effect.  But, had I waited until my scheduled appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday, I'd have ended up on IV (if I had made it at all!).

I truly had no idea how ill I was until I felt better.

Now, I have to wonder if that second fibro flare-up on Friday was in fact a flare-up at all or if it was the early stages of the cellulitis?  I know I am always getting angry at doctors for blaming fibro for everything that is wrong with me, always.  And yet, I may have been guilty of having done just that myself!

Scary business that.