Well, my ankle swelling has reduced. I take baths daily. My girls ask, “Are you taking a bath again?” It is often the only release. When depressed, I sink into the water; hot enough that I can barely get in. My ankles hurt, but I elevate them and stare at their puffy fatness. I pray that this will pass and is only a temporary spike of weird inflammation caused by the hookworm. I finally get out, throbbing, and last a few more hours.
I am planting my garden. On my butt, I transplant sweet peas, 100’s of sweet peas. I’ve ordered 24 different colors. Most of the time I sit, surrounded by the bare earth. Karsten has helped me sink bamboo poles in a sunburst grid; the center’s circle, then paths and rows eminate from there. It helps to hope. Perhaps in the Spring, I will be well. I’ll look at the 5 foot tall flowers and marvel at what I’ve done. It’ll be the hookworm arthritis garden.
Despite the misery, I eat. My appetite is huge and unrelenting. I’ve added unsweetened chocolate to the mix, and it’s not making me worse. I ate a few green beans the other day and nothing changed. I even had a few corn chips. I think I am gaining weight; my sick pants are getting a little snug. So something’s happening, even though I’m still up at night, have liquid diarrhea, but the pain in the ileal-cecal valve is pretty much gone.
I’ve taken Benedryl the last few weeks when pain was the worst, and I was just so depressed I couldn’t get anything done. So one Benedryl and I would escape into a world of haze. Two, and I sleep for hours. I wake up groggy, it lasts for days. I feel hungover, and it doesn’t really help the ankle pain. But then I get the urge to stretch, and I slowly point my toes, lean over, touch my hands to the floor. I wear thick socks and my slippers at night so that I don’t have to touch my ankles together. In the morning, I make breakfast on the stool so I don’t have to stand.
I never realized trying hookworms would be so full of adventure. When do the good times start?
Post a Comment