Look After Yourself

I was all ready to post about how excited and proud I am that DH is stepping up and taking responsibility for his family...about how someone who is postgraduate degree trained and has 30+ years of engineering experience is not too proud to take on a $20/hour job just to keep his family afloat. As he promised, DH is behaving in a far more grown-up fashion these days and really trying to 'fix' the unemployment situation. Of course this doesn't mean I'm still not terribly grumpy and irritable and frankly scared out of my freaking mind, but it does mean that I feel as though we're working like a team on this one, and that calms my soul just a wee bit.

So. DH is now getting a few casual shifts doing some unskilled labour and frankly, I think we're all better for it. Sadly, the joy I feel over this small victory has been overshadowed by the fact that, since Monday night, I've been sick as a damn dog. There were a few moments where I really thought the end was nigh. I stood in the shower on Wednesday morning and very nearly passed out from the pain - my head felt really weird, and when I looked at the tiles they got all sort of fuzzy and seemed very far away. For two nights I was shivering and shaking hard enough to give me 2 days of jaw pain from the teeth chattering. For several days now, mere minutes after I eat something (and by something I mean an icy pole, or a piece of toast, or some hot tea, or just water) I am doubled over with the most horrendous gut pain you can imagine. According to the lab, I have food poisoning. Which is strange because for the life of me, I haven't eaten anything differently from the rest of my family, and I haven't eaten any dodgy take-away. For whatever reason, I was the lucky one.

And I say lucky one, because according to Dr Google, less than one droplet of chicken juice can cause this asshole of a condition to occur. Also according to Dr Google, it's rare but some people end up with permanent paralysis, and some people end up with arthritis, and some people die (!) from this freaking thing. I now officially hate Dr Google. Jerk.

HOWEVER, what I will say is that this is really endorsing a lesson I've only recently come to appreciate. It's simple really - you have nothing without your health. I know it's a very grandma type saying, but the truth of it has really hit me square between the eyes this week. I think back about the people I know who are chronically or even temporarily unwell (and sadly, at this moment there are many), and I think, "Holy crap. Jobs, money, mortgages, naughty kids, first dates, broken refrigerators, unreturned voicemails, facebook updates...none of it means ANYTHING unless you've got your health." Unless you are healthy and well, SO MANY things simply cannot happen - including being able to take the temp job your family so needs. We really underestimate our dependence on our good health. How often do we take my good health and wellbeing for granted? I'm pretty sure I take it for granted just about every moment of every day.

Between you and I, I'd love to end this post with a, "And as a result of my latest epiphany, I resolve to take much better care of my health, only eat organic, become a convert to all things lentil, and wash my hands 23 times a day at minimum." You know, basically promise a lot of lofty goals I cannot possibly achieve. I can't do that because: 1) I know I'd be lying, and 2) this stupidly painful illness has shown me that sometimes, when it comes to one's health, shit happens (pun very much intended). I don't think I can make any promises beyond this one: I will look after myself. I will still eat too much ice cream. I will still sometimes eat for reasons of emotion rather than physiology. I will still take risks like crossing when not at a cross walk, and speeding, and probably even do stupid things like boat rides and plane rides and other things which place my health at risk. BUT. I will still get pap smears, have check ups once a year, have my teeth checked and cleaned, and avoid any chicken stir fry which DH chooses to cook for me*.

So in my laid back and not wanting to be a preachy blogger sort of way, I'm encouraging you to do the same. Look after yourself. Because, trust me, if you're unwell, you won't be able to read my witty postings, and THEN where will you be?

*Current suspected source of said horrendous food poisoning, but to be fair it was ME who bought said chicken which went into alleged hotbed of bacteria stir fry. And nobody else who ate it got sick. (Thank goodness.)