25 May – fifth break


Had a very uneasy night last night. I began running a slight fever just after dinner and I was in incredible pain. My ankles wouldn’t support my weight. The pain centered in the Achilles’ tendon area and had worsened through the day to the point where I couldn’t stand or walk. I’m not sure what this is all about but I have some theories. This last cycle while in the hospital I didn’t do any exercises or in-room walking due to my toes still being a bit tender. That was a mistake. I think the lack of activity caused the muscles and tendons to tighten and atrophy slightly and now I’m paying the price. There’s more than that though – I have several angry red spots on my lower legs that weren’t there when I left the hospital. One especially looks like an infected bug bite but the skin isn’t raised and it doesn’t hurt when I poke at it. The other red splotches are tender and I suspect it may be cellulitis. Ugh… Is this going to be my new normal? My fever broke during the night and my temp is back down to 98.8, still a bit high for me but better than the 99.7 that it was. Now I’m worried. Is this what I’m going to be facing once I’m out of the hospital for good? An immune system so delicate and compromised that the slightest little thing, a scratch or bruise, will send my fever climbing and infection raging? Because this is nuts. Yes, I know it’s going to take a LONG time for my immune system to rebuild itself and it may always remain damaged but dammit, losing sleep over this isn’t fun.

I may have to take a nap later. I’m already feeling more than a bit blotto.😴😴 Thank goodness Leyna’s cooking tonight. My plan for the day is to stay off my feet as much as possible, although I may attempt a short walk later on this morning just for the exercise. I looked up a list of essential oils that have been used in the treatment of cellulitis and I have four high-powered ones on hand, so I’m going to start using them diluted in lotion for the red patches on my lower legs.

My fever crept back up to 100.4 today, the highest it’s been since I’ve been coming home on breaks. This time, and for the first time since this whole ordeal began, I reached for the Tylenol. Now I’m REALLY worried. I have no idea what’s causing the fever, unless it’s related to the possible cellulitis in my lower legs. I ended up wearing compression socks today, which really helped with the swelling and discomfort, but I cut the toes out to make room for my still-healing offending digits. I basically ruined a $50 pair of compression socks! Ugh… Well, at least they were more comfortable.