After a week spent in and out of the ER and Urgent Care, I'm so happy to be back to work at the Hawk today. I'm alive, and that's the very best Good News Monday news I've ever shared.

It's Good News Monday and we're sharing stories of good things that have recently happened in our lives and would love to hear your news whether it be big or small, so feel free to give us a call at 607-720-9801.

I went to bed the Saturday night after the Leann Rimes concert at Spiedie Fest not feeling well and in a lot of pain, but thought I could sleep it off. When I woke up on Sunday morning and saw myself looking like this in the mirror, I knew I had to get to the ER and fast:

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You can tell that the right side of my face looks like I got stung by something nasty, but I knew it wasn't that. After a total of 12 hours in the ER over the course of two visits and one very sexy gown (you know you're jealous)....

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...I learned two things.  The first is that the pain was coming from a failed root canal with an exposed root (oh joy!) and the second is that by a completely freak occurrence, my periorbital cellulitus decided to flare up.  How lucky can a girl get, right? I've had periorbital cellulitus for exactly thirty years (wow- saying that aloud makes me feel ancient!) and I never know when it's going to flare up.

Periorbital cellulitus is an infection of the eyelids or skin around the eye(s) and is taken very seriously because the infection is so close to the brain. When I have a flare up, my skin becomes VERY hot to the touch and the infected area immediately becomes red and blistery. It's usually coupled with a throbbing pain and burning in my eyes as well as a high fever.  Oh, and it makes me feel zombie tired. My last flare up was four years ago and came out of the blue, as it always does. I was  hooked up to an IV and pumped full of antibiotics and had what felt like a thousand viles of blood drawn to make sure the infection hadn't entered my blood stream (think the ever so lovely staph infection).  This time was no different except that this time I had to have a CT scan.  I don't remember much of that because I was very drugged up and full of antibiotics, but my friends tell me I was insistent that the tech confirm he saw a brain inside my head. He did.  Yay!

I was released from the hospital on Sunday night, still in excruciating pain and still pumped full of antibiotics. I needed to see an oral surgeon, but the earliest appointment I was able to get was on Wednesday due to the infection in my face.  On Wednesday, I saw the  most kind and gentle oral surgeon I've ever encountered who took care of the tooth with the exposed root.  But still lingering was the cellulitus issue. I tried to explain to the doctors that the medicine I was on wasn't right, but I'm sure I sounded like a fool woman slurring my words because of the pain meds.

Thursday rolled around and not only did my fever shoot way up, but while the cellulitus on the right side of my face was clearing up, it spread to the left side:

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I knew I didn't have time to sit in the ER, so I made my way to Urgent Care where they got me right in and the doctor I saw was PHENOMENAL. This doctor agreed that I needed to be on a more aggressive antibiotic regime and got my medicine switched right away. I'm going to be sending her a thank you note, because if she hadn't taken the time to listen to me and to listen to my history with this disease and if she hadn't recognized the symptoms and changed my medicine immediately as she did, things would be a whole lot worse right now. And that thought scares me.

I've still got a bit of a fever that I'm monitoring.  If it goes up by just .5 degrees, I have to go back to the ER.  I'm praying that doesn't happen because this past week of ins and outs has left this girl's bank account crying sad, sad tears. I'm thankful for health insurance, but still- I have no doubt I'm going to cry a little when I get my hospital bills. Those high deductibles are just great, aren't they?

Today, a week later, I'm back on the radio and so thankful for all the good in my life. I'm thankful for my friends who gave up their Sunday to sit with me in the ER and my friends who made sure I was drinking enough fluids and who ran to the store for me when I needed things and who sat with me as I laid in bed. My friends who cut up my food into tiny little bites and fed me.  My friends who helped me wash my hair and find a more comfortable way to lay in bed.  These friends are my earth angels and I love them so, so much.

I'm thankful for my co-workers who called and texted to see how I was doing and who offered to come sit with me and run errands and even do my laundry all while dealing with their own life things. I've worked in a lot of places with a lot of people, but haven't ever felt so genuinely loved as I do right here, right now.  I hope that those I work with know how much I value them and how much love I have in my heart for them, not just as co-workers, but as honest to God friends.

I'm thankful for my friend and boss, John Davison who was with me every scary step of the way this past week filling me with love and encouragement and prayers. John researched for me and found me the best of the best to care for my health. John is the one helped me find a doctor who listened when I spoke and who understood the severity of my situation.

I'm thankful for every single person who reached out to me in heartfelt concern to wish me well and also for those who didn't reach out, but who still held me in their heart.

Most of all, I'm thankful that healing has begun.

It's said that when we're at our worst we see the best in people. I know this to be true.

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