Flu Bug, Flu Bug, Go Away!

Yup, you guessed it. We've been down and out all week with a bad case of the flu. The wild man is recovering well but still has a nasty cough every now and then. Me? I'm feeling old as well as sick. It's a harsh realization to find out that my body doesn't just bounce right back after a bad bout of the yucks like it used to. I can't seem to shake the cruddy feeling in my ears or the nasal congestion. At least I have my voice back! I've felt so crappy that I haven't felt like doing anything but going to bed early at night. I've barely been able to keep up with family emails and reading some of my favorite blogs. Knitting fell by the wayside, as did cooking, cleaning, showering, moving...yeah, right. Fortunately my Dad was willing to take over for a while. He was pretty cool actually. He did the dishes, cooked, cleaned up, did some grocery shopping and, get this, watched the wild man for several hours so I could nap! That's why I say he was pretty cool. His great reward? Slapped down with the same crud we were whacked with. Poor man.

There's also been a ton of news on the FIL front. He's back in the hospital but they've solved most of the riddles. They now know what's going on with all his repeated ailments. After the first infection about 8 weeks ago his body started declining. With decreased ability to fight his infection his diabetes roared to life. It damaged parts of his frontal lobe which affect reasoning. It also sped up the neuropathy in his legs causing him a lot of pain. When he was told he could no longer function in an assisted living facility he became increasingly depressed. The depression bred anxiety and panic attacks (I can relate) and caused his huffing and puffing breathing problems. The original infection isn't totally gone yet either. In any case, he's been assessed by a team of Dr's including a Psych Dr, which is totally what he needed. The Psych Dr increased his sleep medicine to counteract his sleep deprivation. If he manages well on the new dosage he can go back to overnight dialysis. (He had been removed as he was a danger to himself and other patients). He has been given the proper dosage for his anxiety and over the past two days has shown marked improvement in his attitude. Sunday and Monday he was asking to stop dialysis and just let him die. Now he is trying to do as the Dr's suggest and seems to be behaving himself. He may be released back to his nursing home this weekend...we'll see. The dementia that resulting from his frontal lobe damage will only continue to decline so even though things look a lot better than they did at the beginning of the week, we know that he will continue to get worse until the time comes when decisions will need to be made with regard to his ability to continue any kind of normal existence. At that point his Dr's will weigh in and he will be reassessed. Until then, we soldier on!

I pulled out the never ending hubby sweater the other night and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of progress I've done on the body. I thought I was merely picking at it but didn't think how many rows I was adding on every day. I have maybe 4 to 6 more inches left until I can do the bottom ribbing. I think I'll do 4 inches and do extra rows on the ribbing. Yippee!!! While the end may not be in sight at least I can see myself moving on to the sleeves sooner rather than later!

I've got lots more to relate but need to get back to the little guy. It's snuggle time before nap time and I'm looking forward to it, too!

Until next time (I hope it won't be so long!) - Have a wonderful weekend and happy knitting!