Oh Taste and See

That The Lord is Good

January 2015

Sickness. It is all around us and despite taking all necessary precautions and having a remarkable immune system... sometimes it just hits us. And this time it hit ME and hit me HARD! I started sniffling and noticing some annoyances during our Christmas trip to Louisiana and my parents house in Tyler, TX. Natalie and Luke were there with my parents for several days before Chris and I arrived and when we got there Natalie was at the climax of her "upper respiratory infection" or common cold. Luke had suffered this earlier in December and we basically had all just passed it around. Within 2 days of being around a 5 year old who didn't cover her mouth and all of the germs that go with that, I was sneezing and coughing.

I spent the rest of our 2 week vacation running at about 60-70%. The weather that week between Christmas and New Years was miserable at best and one of the worst I remember for a vacation week. Because of the weather, my sickness and the still recovering 2 children we decided to have a LAZY vacation and pretty much did a WHOLE LOT of NOTHING! It is not my style but I must admit it was very relaxing and enjoyable looking back!

Once January 4th arrived and it was time to go back to school I felt like I was improving and thought going back to the routine of work would heal me. Boy was I wrong... I just got worse as the days progressed and during that 1st week back I was literally dying by the time 3:30 hit. I felt like I was a 1st year teacher again just looking at the clock and counting down the hours and minutes until freedom. It was sad... But true!

I am not one to take medication well and I try to avoid it all costs. Now don't label me as one of those "holistic/ weirdos" that is too good for medication but I HARDLY EVER GET SICK so I am already not used to taking medications. In fact the entire 10-12 days that led up to the 1st week of January I had not taken any meds thinking it would heal on its' own. Finally on January 13th I decided I had had enough and went to my school's clinic to be seen.

Oddly enough the same doctor that gave me such a hard time about my Health Risk Assessment appointment back in November/ December was giving me the same exam and was sure to point out my weight and how I still needed to lose what now would be 25 pounds (If you have not read that post it is hilarious and you can find it HERE). But he continued to tell me that I had a sinus infection and I needed to get a shot (YIKES) and be put on a high dose antibiotic.

I left the "quack-shack" as some teachers call it with a bruise on my hiney and a headache but I was on the road to recovery... or so I thought. The shot seemed to make me really dizzy and I was light headed to say the least. I went home about an hour early on Tuesday thinking I would recover over night but as the evening progressed I just got worse and worse. By Thursday I was down right miserable and wondering if I should stop taking the antibiotics. Then it happened... I LOST MY TASTE and smell too! On Friday morning, during our district Rodeo Art show and one of the busiest and stressful times in my teaching year, I noticed I could not taste.

I spent the next 10 day not being able to taste at all. It was absolutely depressing and terrible. I kept thinking I was getting better, which I was beginning to feel better, and I would wake up each morning thinking it was back only to find my breakfasts all tasted the same. There were family celebrations, parties and even a 3 day weekend thrown into those 10 days but through it all I still could not taste ANYTHING!

Oddly enough, I had been battling losing the same 5-6 pounds for well over 2-3 months. I had reached yet another plateau in my weight loss journey and NOTHING seemed to be breaking it! I was frustrated, irritated and annoyed at the non-movement of the scale. But God knew this and I believe he sent this sickness my way to get over that "hump" in my journey. Those 10 days I was depressed and miserable because I was not able to taste but I ate nothing but protein shakes and all pure DIET food. I think I was eating less than 800-1000 calories a day... WHY EAT IF YOU CANNOT TASTE! Through those 10 days I lost the 6 pounds I had been holding onto for so long and now am on a clear track to yet another weight loss goal. 

All of this because I COULD NOT taste due to a common cold. This reminds me how The Lord really does have a sense of humor! Thank You Lord... it was an obscured way to lose weight but it worked! Thank You Lord! 

God is good... ALL the time!