I realise I haven't been on the blogging scene of late...well any social media scene really, and there is a reason for this...I'm not just being lazy :-)
I wish I could say it is because I'm manic busy and there's been hardly anytime to sit down and write, or something more fabulous, but the truth is I haven't been very well.
Last week I was diagnosed with Tonsillitis and was put on antibiotics, told to take a few days out of my busy work life and rest! (How hard that was, I can't even begin to tell you!)
A day after I was diagnosed I began to feel worse, my medication wasn't working and I wasn't able to eat anything, drink or even swallow saliva...this surely wasn't a sign of tonsillitis getting better or remotely improving?
Luckily my Fab Dad took the initiative and rang up my GP to say my symptoms had worsened over the night and nothing was going down, to which they told him to take me straight to A&E where I would be referred to the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) department straight away.
Within an hour I was hooked up to a drip, paracetamol and steroids were being pumped into my system to ease the pain (slightly!). Then I was placed onto a ward where I would be staying for the next three nights-unknown to me at the time.
When I was first admitted into the hospital as an 'in-patient' I had to go the ENT specialist to have an Endoscopy. Well, whoever says they've had this and it doesn't hurt, is lying!
My throat was so swollen that the tiniest movement they made was extremely painful and it took four attempts to get this thing through my nose and down my throat to have a look, it was the longest 10 seconds of my life. And yes I was crying like a baby...not my finest moment!
What the doctor saw during the examination was not Tonsillitis as diagnosed the previous day by my GP, but an infected swallow passage, which is why I couldn't do anything except breath to prevent the pain!
The infection was that bad that every time I swallowed I'd feel razor sharp and burning pains going down my throat, to which even something smooth like mashed potato couldn't get by.
Plus even talking made the infection worse as the voice box is next to your swallow passage, which vibrates up to 100 times per noise you make, meaning the infection gets irritated by sound and talking, preventing the healing.
That was last Tuesday 4th June, and for three nights I was IV-ed up to saline and medication drips to get me through the infection. On Friday 7th June I was finally released to go home, eat and rest up.
One week on and I'm still not 100%! I honestly didn't realise at the time how serious the infection was, and how much it takes it out of you to get over it.
Once I was discharged and given my medication to take home I honestly thought I would be resting over the weekend and back to normal work on Monday morning.
How wrong I have been!
This infection really has sent my body into a bit of shock. It has completely changed the way I eat. I hadn't eaten properly for over 5 days whilst first being ill to being taken in to hospital, and now I can only take small amounts as I get full easily, or feel sick from the medication. Yet a few hours later I need to eat again.
I'm exhausted! My body is concentrating so hard on fighting this infection still, that even an hour of socialising or trying to do work absolutely knackers me out. I have to nap throughout the day, which I don't like to do, and I'm in bed by 10 o'clock to get a good night's sleep.
From this I have decided to take a couple of weeks off to make a full recovery...
Even though my head is saying 'No, there is so much to do in the business', my body and heart are saying if I don't take time off I will end up not making a full recovery and being back to where I was before. If not with a severe throat infection, then something just as serious.
I know at the time I fell ill I thought it was purely just an illness, but now I've had time to think about it, I believe I may have made this infection as bad as it has been.
This unfortunately has caused a lot of stress upon me mentally and physically, and I believe that maybe if I hadn't been so forceful upon myself to make everything come together so quickly, then maybe my body would have had more strength to battle this infection quicker.
This illness has been a bit of a wake up call to me.
I realise that even though you want something immediately, time is still something you have to wait for and when it's ready it will give you what you have been thriving towards, and not any sooner!
So lovely readers of mine, let me be a lesson to you!
If you are one to create stress, take work a little too seriously and are in a rush to get to the next sage in your life, think about how this treats your health in terms of mind, body and soul.
Don't be too harsh on it, as health is one thing we really need to cherish in this world, because without it how would we get by and do the things we live and dream about doing.
Cheers to good health!
Speak in a couple of weeks.
Best Wishes,
Laura Felicity x
P.s. I want to dedicate this blog post to all my fabulous family and friends, who have been there for me during this tough time, and shown their care and love to me in more ways that I can imagine! Thank you! xx
