I suck at journal updating... but here it goes!

So I thought I was clear, having 3 or so weeks of feeling good after the two weeks out sick. Boy was I wrong. After going to the chiropractor on Jun 31st I went on this platform that shakes you around, wobbling really fast as you stand in a certain way to essentially reprogram your muscles to hold your correct posture. Well that was my last exercise for the day and I left, but I had this really bad sore throat that I didn't have before. Okay, I could ignore that. Next day (SAT) throat isn't as bad but there is a fever growing. So then comes Sunday, I went to a friend's place to get my right front wheel hub replaced on my car so this bad humming would go away and I wouldn't have to worry about it falling off. Big mistake. The garage was so hot and it was raining, couldn't do it outside. In the end my friend had to do the work because I was sweating profusely and couldn't stand for more than a minute. I suspect I was terribly overheated and dehydrated but I did my best to watch and know how to do it in the future. Got home and confirmed I was extremely dehydrated. Skip to Monday, I go to work knowing about my fever and feel all awful and sweaty, but I make it through. Had to go to the doctor and have tests done on Tuesday-Thursday, worked on Friday as best as I could and still waited for results.

Then I get the call at 8:00pm on that Friday night: My Gallbladder may be infected and I need to go to the ER

"Great, okay this is going to be a long weekend..." is all I could think of at the time. So I get there at 8:30pm with my dad, we wait for maybe an hour to get in the back, then wait to be examined, and eventually am told that I'll be admitted to the hospital. Problem is it wasn't until 4AM that I got a room, but by that time I was freezing in the ER, dozing, and eventually had an IV stuck in my arm so they could give me liquids and starting me on antibiotics. I found that IVs are not so bad, they don't keep needles in your arm to poke at you or freak you out, it's just a very small two and a half inch long plastic tube - It's Quite comfortable and it makes the giving of blood and medicine not noticeable at all because there's no more poking. Well... for me I had some poking later as my left arm was attacked in so many places to try and find a vein - they can't get blood from the IV at the same time they are giving medicine (because they can't stop the medicine drip, just the water drip apparently).
Nurses came in often on the first couple of days, being sure to come in at least once every 4 hours to check my vitals. It was very busy and hard to get any sleep, never more than an hour before waking up again. I noticed after not too long (and my parents pointed this out) that they sent all of their attractive nurses to work in my room maybe since I was a younger guy seemingly single... lol which is why I'm so glad my girl came to visit on the second day! It wasn't long I think before (I suspect) they noticed that I wasn't single and I suddenly had older and nervous (but nice) nurses and boring techs come in who looked like they had a better place to be. Like a total change from (I kid you not) all young nurses who were good at what they did and experts with the needle to a crew of unsure slow-reacting (overall) I wasn't as sure about. I'm glad Dani was there though, I was so out of it those first few days, dozing and losing attention, having such a recurring fever really takes alot out of you I guess. She helped me with the little things like getting things from the other side of the room, keeping me hydrated with drinks, generally keeping company in the way a girlfriend does best. That day she had to go home at the end even after everyone left for the night, but the following day she came back, and i couldn't have been happier to see her. The day wasn't as busy as the previous ones by any means and was more relaxing to be with Dani. I got a nice surprise from 6 people coming to visit - my Uncle and his GF, Dani's sister Donna and her old Youth Minister and one of his friends. I met them once at an outing one day when I was out with Dani and it was nice just to see more friendly faces and talk about stuff like funny hospital topics. After maybe an hour of good sharing everyone prayed over me to get better and headed home. Family visited, bringing this AMAZING soup/broth that was (I kid you not!) Holiday Dinner in a thermos! Turkey, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, gravy, etc. all cooked together and then strained so it was only the liquid (since that's all I was allowed to have) and it was simply like nothing I've ever had before. Even the nurses were amazed by the smell when I showed it off, so I knew I wasn't crazy! 3/4 of it coats your tongue while the rest runs off like broth, it was heavenly, and would have been even more-so if every swallow I took wasn't incredibly painful. I have to have my mom make that again! After everyone left again it was late but Dani was still there by my side. She wanted to know if I wanted her to stay overnight... and I really did, but knew it wasn't up to me. She has family waiting on her too, but she got the OK from them and we made sure she had the right comforts for a good night sleep on her recliner she claimed :3 she was literally right by my side and I have never felt more happy with her. We sometimes just sleepily stared into each others eyes and held each others hands until we dozed off.

In the time we had spent there I had a chance to watch some interesting shows with her, and one caught my eye that I heard about but never got around to seeing - Deadliest Catch. Now, I love seafood, and Crab is my second favorite only to Shrimp. To see how they get these things, and what HUGE crab they do find holy crap! They're like 2 ft in diameter King Crabs! It's pretty dangerous what they do out there, I'm sure, but the episodes I saw were quite tame on the water while they were picking up these crab cages. I found it was more about the drama with the crews, but people do like that *shrugs*

So after all of this, all the testing, all the support from family, friends, and co-workers, I get results back that I have the Epstein-Barr Virus. Doesn't sound familiar? It's one step under/before Mononucleosis (Mono).
[link]
So I'll have this for like, ever, but I won't go through the symptoms again. I'll just carry and it may activate sometime without anyone knowing, and someone who hasn't gotten it will get it........ if they get kissed by me lol That's right, it's a kissing disease and that probably means gave it to me and she had her bout with it when she was younger. Gotta get over it sometime I suppose. I love you Dani! <3 It's not your fault by any means, but at least we know what it is, and that I'll be better now. Getting treated with steroids for my tonsils, and it immediately took care of the recurring fever when it was first given in the hospital. I got checked out yesterday afternoon after 4 days of hospitalization. I've never been admitted to one before but this was certainly an experience. I'll never miss having to take the fraking bulky IV machine into the bathroom all the time, unplugging it, trying to get its 10 wheels over this doorway stub on the ground, and trying to make sure my tube doesn't yank out of my arm. Made me feel old D: And don't get me started on the Gown, it's designed to moon people, comfortable though as it may be, I felt much more at ease wearing boxers with it. I think Dani just came to see me in that the first day!
j/k j/k xD

Anyway I'm here having the last bit of the amazing soup and recovering some more, trying to get paperwork sorted to get back to work as soon as I can. I don't want to post anymore about being sick lol Thank you all again who helped me through this! I love you all! <3

~Burtan Tae
Aka Matt