I’m tracking my daughter’s flight and they’ll land in a half hour… with the drive from the airport they should be home by 8:00 a.m.
I caught the head cold of the decade on Monday, and knew then it wouldn’t be an easy week. Wednesday my daughter and her husband left for Vegas, and I was in charge of their 5 kids, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years old.
Of course, I couldn’t expect my husband or other daughters to lend me a hand…admittedly my other daughters are very busy people, but my husband, well, what can I say?
I did it 90% by myself, Tuesday through Thursday feeling like doing nothing but sneezing, coughing, blowing my nose and downing whatever it took for relieving my sinus headache…
I survived! The weirdest thing is my back and feet have felt better than usual all week. I do remember from the few other times I’ve had a virus my PsA took a rest, which is a strange but good thing! I’ve slept great the past 2 nights (the first 2 nights were hell as my nasal passages were on vacation), but despite sleeping with the baby, I did really well!
What’s sad is my goals for a fun week with the kids were not met, instead I just functioned as a tired old grandma. I’m sure they’re as anxious as me to see their parents this morning! (Probably won’t be begging for grandma to come back and stay anytime soon!)
But, oh well, we made it and none of the kids got sick, which was my biggest fear! How lucky we all were that it WAS only me who felt like “ *** “…
Now, should I take my Enbrel today or hold off a few days??? I sure don’t want to suppress my immune system and let that nasty virus reawaken, but I also don’t want PsA symptoms to get a chance to flare up!
Oh Grandma J, what a pain when just as you want to be at your sparkliest, most glittery joy, you get a head cold!
Glad to hear you made it the week though - not easy even when well.
I’ve not had a biologic flare up a virus, with the exception being bona fide influenza - they do not mix! I’m pretty sure the biologic I was taking at the time even damped down my dengue, so I just felt like death, instead of actually going to hospital.
If you are concerned, ring your Rheumy. They are best placed to help you with the decision.
You are very brave to help out for a whole week! Feel better soon.
The best bet is to ring the rheumy but it’s Sunday. So, no fever, and you’re not taking antibiotics. As long as it hasn’t settled into your chest I would probably go ahead. What guidelines has your doctor used in the past?
Thanks, Jen and Stoney. Wow, it was nice to be back home this morning. I konked out in front of the TV and slept for 2 hours, and I intend to do just about nothing today!
I don’t think I need to worry about the cold going into my chest. My rheumy made sure I got a pneumonia vaccine in December—my cough is dry and hacky from a scratchy throat. I do worry about my low white cell count and also a drop the neutrophils count when they were checked in December (there are a couple of neutrophil counts, one of mine is low and the other is in the normal range). The rheumy labels my low WBC count as leukopenia, which sounds a little scary to me. I know it means I have chronic low white cells, but why? Is Enbrel causing this? Is there a possibility it could turn into leukemia? I know they watch it closely and my WBC and neutrophils counts are checked every six months. They’d catch it early if it was…and I know WBCs are needed to fight infections.
I’ll call my doctor tomorrow for advice…
Congratulations on surviving! Seriously, nobody died and you almost sound a teenie weenie bit proud of yourself. I think there might have been murder & mayhem had I been in your shoes. Amazing, just amazing.
Gosh, so impressive, seriously so impressive minding 5 grandchilren on your own for the better part of a week? I’m blown away, just blown away. Cold wise I’d be taking the enbrel but you’re worried about the while cell count anyway so please talk to your doctor. But wow @Grandma_J just wow! I would have loved a grandma like you. One had died before even my parents had married and the other sadly died when I was 3 so I really never got to know what a grandma was. Your grandchildren are so lucky!
L.O.L., Sybil!!! Trust me, if it had been my own kids—for sure—I nearly murdered them many times! But grandkids, no way. Except, I do get crabby with a couple of them—I won’t name names…they’re both 7 years old and they’ve both always been the most difficult ones—and they’re NOT both boys!!!
@Poo_therapy, so sorry you didn’t get to know your grandmas! They can be a lifesaver for parents and grandkids both.
I had one crabby grandma and one nice grandma. The crabby grandma lived, it seemed, forever! The nice grandma died when I was 15. She had 30+ grandkids. I’ll never forget her funeral there were so many little kids crying out loud! Such a loss! We all talk about her until this day! She was sooooo sweet!
I guess I must be trying to emulate her. It’s nice to feel so loved for them and me. They bring out the best in me, and really, help me forget my own problems!
Something about my nice grandma…she had bad arthritis. They called it rheumatism back in the day. Her hands were all crippled and she could barely walk by the time she was in her 60s. Who knows, she probably had PsA or RA, and back then the only treatment was aspirin.
P.S. I’m going to wait another day or two to take my injection…I didn’t call the doctor because I know he’d say to go ahead and take it if I don’t have a fever.
They can be a lifesaver for parents and grandkids both.
She was sooooo sweet!