Recent bout of sickness...

After our trip last month, each of our family members came down with a cold, one by one. My cold changed around day 5, and I started to feel worse. Everyone else was better by day 10, but I still had sinus pain & pressure, stuffiness, mouth breathing and more. I felt terrible! On Monday, I went to the Dr., and they said it was a sinus infection. I got two medicines for it-- a nasal spray and an antibiotic/ sulfa medicine. From the first day I took the sulfa medicine, I felt like my tongue was burned in the middle. I didn't think it was too bad, so I kept taking the med. On Thursday, my mouth began to hurt more, and I read the medicine info sheet, and one of the side effects was thrush. I don't ever remember having thrush, but wondered if that's what it was. My mouth hurt, and my tongue was pretty white. I called my Dr., and they called in another prescription for me for the thrush. Then on Friday, they took me off of the sulfa med and gave me a different pill to take.

I didn't feel much better by Saturday morning, so I called again. They couldn't get me in until that evening, after 7 p.m. My mouth hurt to talk, and it hurt to eat. I was much quieter than usual. I don't feel like I am a big talker, until I can't talk. It was a humbling experience. The Dr. told me that he didn't think it was thrush, that maybe it was stomatitis, which is basically mouth sores. He said it could take up to 2 weeks to heal. I started crying in the office. He then told me that honestly, he thought it would get better in 2-4 days. He gave me a numbing medicine for my mouth, swabbed my mouth for the cold sore virus and thrush. He gave me a different medicine for the thrush. (This was six different medicines!) I was using my essential oils a lot, and they didn't seem to make much difference. I was just plain miserable. I drank a lot of smoothies, had eggs and other soft foods.

On Saturday night, I cried to Joshua about it all in bed because I felt so terrible. I wanted to go to church and sing on praise team like I was supposed to, but there was no way. I could hardly talk, much less sing. This added to my sadness. Especially since one of my very good friends was supposed to sing with me! I recited the verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)  It helped me feel better. God encouraged my heart and gave me strength!

I wondered what God was trying to teach me in this forced silence. I felt that I did listen more. I enjoyed my quiet time at home so much on Sunday morning. I felt like God whispered to me, "Patience." I feel that I am a pretty patient person most of the time. Joshua is always telling me that I tolerate much more from the kids than he does. I am willing to let them work it out on their own a little more than he does. But here God was whispering to me... sigh. Ok, God. So I prayed more. He knows the plans He has for me... (Jeremiah 29:11) I will trust You, Lord...

The kids were so helpful and understanding. On Monday, Joshua had the day off  (For Labor Day) and he helped so much with homeschool, especially the reading. On Tuesday he was also home and read again. I was feeling a little better on Tuesday. I did take my numbing mouth medicine and was able to teach my American Girl classes (and friends prayed for me, which helped a lot too, I'm sure!). I felt a lot better on Wednesday and felt recovered by Thursday. What a blessing to be healthy again after three weeks! I am still praising God that my mouth is feeling so much better. I forget how great health feels when I am sick for so long...

Has God given you some challenges lately? What Bible verses have spoken to you?