Saturday, February 9, 2008

Happy birthday, and goodbye flu!

Happy birthday, Gunter! I can't believe he's a quarter of a century old. He got breakfast in bed this morning, and now he's listening to his new Brooklyn Tabernacle CD. Talk about a happy camper. And, phone calls from my side of the family have begun...it's tradition.

Last night, we accompanied our pastor and his wife to First Baptist Montgomery to hear Henry Blackaby speak, along with a Korean children's choir and Dr. Billy Kim, a Korean missionary. That might sound like a dorky way to spend a Friday night, but we had a wonderful time! We made a Krispy Kreme run afterwards and got home a little after midnight -- the latest we've been out for a long time! We're getting old. One of the night's highlights was seeing the lovely Butler sisters and Chase C. It was nice to see some familiar faces from our college days (actual people our age!), and Karen and I will make a point to see each other again soon. She's always been such a true, loyal friend.

This week, one case of alleged bronchitis has turned into two cases of alleged flu -- even though one of the victims actually took the flu vaccine this year. I've never had the flu before, but Dr. K thinks the flu shot saved me from getting hit with it much worse, if flu is actually what I've had. He says our area is at the beginning of a flu "epidemic." To illustrate how bad it is already, Wal-Mart had run out of Tamiflu when I went to pick up my prescription, and the in-store wait to get a prescription filled was three hours. Those were only for the people who had actually gone to the doctor and taken prescriptions to Wal-Mart that particular day -- that doesn't even count all the sick people walking around who haven't been to the doctor or who got prescriptions filled elsewhere.

Surprisingly, I've been dealing with this whole germy situation better than I expected. I guess it makes me feel better that Gunter only has two treatments left. I also realize that there's not much I can do about it. At this point, I don't see a change in schedule as quite as risky as it would have been earlier on. Also, when we reported his fever to the Cancer Center, they just told him to take Ibuprofen and Tamiflu instead of that emergency fever kit we literally carried around with us like a security blanket for the first few weeks of treatment. Apparently, they think his white blood cells are strong enough to fight this off.

I'm completely over my bout with flu, except for just a little cough here and there, and Gunter still has some chest congestion. He seems to be on the upswing.

Tonight, we're helping with a youth fundraiser -- the annual Northern Heights Baptist Church Valentine Banquet. Youth and volunteers cook and wait tables to raise money for summer activities. It's sure to be very romantic, and a good time for everybody!

"This is real love -- not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:10

1 comment:

The Reeds said...

I hope Gunter had a great birthday! It sure did start off well with breakfast in bed! I'm sorry about the video- I accidentally deleted that post. Bailey is on You Tube, though- I will email you the links. I hope yall have a great week too!