Stupid Strep

I've had a crazy amount of illness lately. A week and a half ago I came down with a nasty stomach bug that resulted in approximately 12 hours of diarrhea and vomiting (sometimes at the same time - sorry TMI). I was better for a couple of days and then the following Tuesday I woke up incredibly nauseous and had diarrhea again all day. Once I was feeling good again I started to scrub all the bathrooms to disinfect them from the nastiness. That led into cleaning and organizing over the next few days in preparation for my parents visit for Easter.

Then, this past Sunday I woke up with a slight sore throat. I thought it was just the start of a cold so I turned to my trusty Zicam and swabbed my nose regularly every few hours. That stuff is awesome if you actually have a cold. Unfortunately, my sore throat kept getting worse all day and by Monday morning I figured I probably had strep again. A sure sign of strep is if you don't have any other cold symptoms. So, off to the doctor I went and sure enough it's strep.

I thought it was an unusual coincidence that I got strep a couple of days before my parents arrival because that was pretty much the same timing as the only other time I've had strep. Last time I got it a couple of days before my parents arrived for Christmas. When I brought that up to the doctor she said it's probably not a coincidence, it's probably because I'm getting worn down and therefore more susceptible to strep. Then I told her about the stomach bug and she said that my immune system was probably already weakened which also contributed. Oh, and the fact that Ian is in Kindergarten and bringing home every known germ to North America probably isn't helping either!

I am thankful that this case of strep seems to be clearing up much more quickly then last time. I'm feeling almost completely better already and I've only taken 2 days of the antibiotics. Monday evening was rough because I had a fever and was shaking uncontrollably, but the Tylenol kicked in pretty quickly and knocked it out. Mom and Dad should be here in 45 minutes so I'm thrilled to be healthy for their visit.

The tricky part now is trying to figure out how to avoid getting worn down and therefore susceptible to illness. In 4 weeks we go to Texas to see Jon and Kim and I really don't want to get strep again right before our trip. I know in the week leading up to our trip I'll have a lot to do. So, how do I balance getting it all done and resting at the same time?