Been A Long Time!

 Hello Dear Friends,

I was just reading my last blog post.  So much has happened since that post.  For those that don't know, my entire family got sick with Influenza A in December.  I got very sick.  I had Influenza A, pneumonia, a strep infection in my blood,  and sepsis. 

Hubby took me to the emergency room on December 26 and I was lifeflighted to a bigger hospital 100 miles away on December 27.  I'm told that I would not have survived if I wouldn't have been lifeflighted.  I was put on a ventilator for many weeks and even during that time, the doctors and my family didn't know if I would survive.  I was in a medically induced coma, my organs had shut down, I was on continual dialysis, and lost all of my muscle mass during that time.  I have very little memory of December, January, February, and March.  

I spent seven weeks in the ICU, five weeks at a skilled nursing facility, and I am still in physical, occupational, and speech therapy.  I couldn't talk or move my body, arms, legs, fingers or toes because I had lost all my muscle mass and strength.  The skilled nursing facility worked with me to get me moving,  standing, walking, and feeding myself.

My family says I am a miracle.  My kidneys are working and show no signs of injury from my illness and I'm getting stronger every day.  I have neuropathy in my extremities, a hoarseness in my voice from being on the ventilator so long, and other weaknesses that may or may not resolve.  My doctors tell me I need to wait and see.  I was also told that it will take more than a year and a half for me to fully recover.  I worry about getting sick again.

I thought the hardest part would be getting strong enough to move my body, stand, walk, and feed myself.  No one mentioned that I would also have memory and cognitive issues, PTSD and depression during my recovery too.  

I hope to be back with another post soon.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are so appreciated.