New York Trip and Health Update

First - All the pictures are available to view from Bras for a Cause. They are on the website.

www.brasforacuasemichigan.com

Things have been interesting lately to say the least. I've had a fever for the past 11 days straight. Before I go into that, I'll tell you about the New York trip.

On Wednesday I went to fly out to New York and my flight was cancelled because of wind. They said they couldn't get me out to New York until Saturday which was no good because Kevin and I were supposed to fly back to Michigan on Sunday. (Kevin was already out there for work and was supposed to spend Wednesday - Sunday with me). I tried Thursday and Friday to get on the 7:20 flight standby, but it didn't happen. So, three mornings in a row I woke up at 3am trying to get out to New York. I had them at least make my return flight a few days later, but unfortunately I would be in New York without Kevin. I kept thinking maybe this was a sign that I was too sick to go to New York. I went anyway (finally on Saturday)
Here is Kevin, Pat, Sue and Dave at Central Park.
Me and Kevin.
Grand Central Station. Beautiful place.
Me and Dave on the Subway.

We had an action packed Saturday. We went to Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station. My uncle did an amazing thing and actually got Kevin and I tickets to see Saturday Night Live filmed. Those tickets are almost impossible to get. I was so excited to go. If I could pick any show to see filmed it would be SNL. We had such an incredible time. Then we walked around Rockefeller Plaza and watched people ice skate.
Here is Kevin and I outside NBC studios after the Saturday Night Live rehearsal.
This is a cool crystal thing that hangs in Rockefeller Plaza.

The next day, we went on the Staton Island Ferry, Kevin went home and I got a really bad fever and felt like complete crap. The next day I was slightly better, but not much. My friend Dave took me to the Met and we looked at art in-between my frequent breaks to sit down because my body was so exhausted. That night Dave, Pat and I went to a comedy show at the Cellar. It was so much fun. We saw Jeff Ross, Colin Quinn, and Jim Norton. Louis CK was also there, but I don't think he ever went up on stage.

Here I am rubbing the head of the bull. It's supposed to bring you wealth. Hopefully enough to cover the cost of the enzymes I am taking. : )
I went to a Broadway show caller Superior Donuts with Dave and my friend Mark and got to see the financial district. Dave and Mark were both pretty good at understanding my energy level and were always trying to find elevators and escalators as well as places for me to sit down often. That helped a lot. That way I could still see what I wanted, but not kill myself doing it or feel bad about inconveniencing them.

This is my friend Mark. We were neighbors in college and stayed friends.
Times Square looks VERY cool at night. I don't think pictures do it justice.

Since I have gotten back I have been exhausted. I have fevers every day. My bones hurt, I get winded from standing too long, my liver hurts and just about every single night I break my fever, sweat until I wake myself in a pool of wetness, but the fever doesn't go away. I have not been myself for a long long time. It's been rough to say the least, but I have a plan. I'm going to decrease the amount of enzymes I take at a time and that should help me feel a little better. Nonetheless, I have been just plain sick of feeling sick. I've had a pretty negative attitude lately. Maybe I can vent, get it out and start focusing on the positive.

So, I created a list in a effort to get it all out and move on:

Here are some things I am SO sick of:

1. I am sick of asking Kevin to get me things and do things for me

2. I am SO sick of washing my pillow cases, sheets and comforter almost daily

3. I am sick of waking up in a pool of wetness on my side of our king sized bed, moving to the center which is dry until I wake up again and now my side and the middle is wet, then kicking Kevin out of bed and sending him to the guest room to sleep and finally waking up on his side, soaked again. I go through 3 pillows and the entire area of our king sized bed every night.

4. I am so sick of not having energy to do anything

5. I am so sick of the TV, movies on demand, everything I have DVRed, and everything on all the premium channels. I hate the TV, but have no energy to do anything else.

6. I am sick of my negative state of mind. Seems like it is one thing after another lately and I am sick of the fact that I am expecting bad things to happen to me.

7. I am sick of pain. (Bone, liver and muscle pain) A couple times a day the pain makes me take a Motrin and it drives me crazy since I am trying to DETOX my body.

I cannot just make this negative list without making some effort to force myself to focus on something positive. While writing this list I decided to write something positive about every single item I listed.

1.I am so lucky to have a husband who will be my own personal slave when it is impossible for me to take care of myself. And this is not just through a 3 day cold or anything. He's been taking care of me like this for a month now.

2. My pillowcases and sheets are getting that nice broken in soft feeling you can only get after owning them for a really long time (or when your a crazy sweaty person like myself)

3. Thank god we got a king sized bed. I am lucky to have so much space to move around and find a dry spot on my bed to sleep in so I can get back to sleep quickly.

4. I got so sick of the TV that it forced me to get a new book. I got Dan Brown's latest book and it is a page turner.

5. I have been gradually getting more energy as I have been off the supplements for a couple days. I can use this time to accomplish some things and visit with people.

6. I think my negative state of mind has hit a breaking point. I now realize it's time to get serious again about changing my thought process and expect good things to happen to myself.

7. My pain is different every day, it's not like it steadily gets worse of anything. Today I could be in terrible pain and tomorrow my body could feel like nothing happened. There is always the hope of tomorrow being a better day.

I wrote all this yesterday and I already feel a tiny bit better today. Things always have the opportunity to get better.

Take care everyone. I'll take care of myself and hopefully I'll soon be writing about my next voyage away from my house. For now, I'll just enjoy saving so much gas money by staying home all the time.

Your VERY SWEATY friend

Shannon