I have been pretty inconsistent in the past couple of weeks when it has come to blogging and I want to apologize for that. A lot has been going on with my depression and what not, which has distracted me from my writing goals. Blogtober I can officially say was a bust. I mean, the first half was great, but it definitely turned belly up on me when I stopped consistently writing. With that being said, shit happens and it won’t be the end of me… or this blog, for that matter.

Diego has been sick this past week with a sore throat, no fever, minimal body aches, and general malaise. I didn’t think much of it at first, but probed him to see the doctor after he got tested for COVID-19. We didn’t think that he had the virus, but work made a protocol that if he called out sick, he had to get tested anyways. So on Tuesday, he tested negative for the virus and on Wednesday, he went to the doctor to get tested for strep. That came back negative and was diagnosed with a viral infection. I bought some Mucinex for him in hopes it would clear his throat up.

By Thursday, his throat was very red and angry looking. No white in his throat, but his glands in his neck were extremely swollen and I kept asking if he needed to go to the emergency room. He kept being stubborn and said no, he was getting better. At this point, he was not getting better. In fact, he was getting much worse. He couldn’t drink or eat because any fluids would go through his sinuses and come out his nose and he could hardly talk or enunciate his words. I made a bet with him at 7 p.m. on Thursday. I said if things don’t get any better by this time on Friday night, I am taking you to the ER. He agreed and we shook on it.

By Friday at 11 p.m., four hours after the bet. Things were not looking up for poor Diego. I begged him to go the ER, but claimed he couldn’t afford it. He was now sweating bullets and the temperature in the house was a cool, 65 degrees. I reminded him of our bet and he said he wouldn’t break his promise. I drove him to ER and became his interpreter because no one else could understand him due to his swollen throat that was starting to swell shut, making it harder to breathe.

He was immediately told that this was the place for him to be considering he had a temperature of 102.1 and was escorted to an isolated area since he was at-risk for COVID. I couldn’t go back with him so I made the twenty minute drive north back to his house. He texted me that they were testing him for mono and giving him an IV of fluids and took blood. His test came back negative for mono, but his white blood cell count came back extremely high. They next checked to see if he was septic or if the white blood cell count was high due to infection.

Fortunately they ruled out him being septic and he was diagnosed with peritonsillar cellulitis which is a group of cells of his tonsils. He was given a shot and 3 pills of antibiotics and an anti inflammatory in the hospital. They encouraged him to be admitted until he could see an ear, nose, and throat specialist and may need his tonsils removed. But he said that he would do whatever it takes to go home.

He called me at 4 a.m. to come pick him up and I did so. He apologized for his actions and not wanting to see the doctor. It surprised me because this was something new; admitting that he was wrong… for once. I accepted his apology and by 5 a.m. on Halloween morning, we were in bed cuddling. I said I was happy to have him home and he said he was happy I was there with him.

Today we filled his prescriptions and cleaned the house because his family is going to come over tomorrow and it was bittersweet how he was telling me that him owning this house was everything his parents’ hoped and dreamed of having for him, as first generation immigrants. He wanted to make his parents proud by keeping it up and well kept so they can all enjoy the home. It’s something I never really even considered thinking about; it never even dawned on me the importance of this house for not only Diego, but for his whole family.

Then we started talking about wills and testaments and how he should create one and incorporate his family into it. He wants to give this house to his sister and she can delegate to their younger brother, Pablo the inheritance since he is special needs. He has Down syndrome and autism and since he is still a minor, he couldn’t inherit anything now anyways. I mean, hopefully Diego’s will is not used anytime soon, God willing, but I think it’s sweet he would consider his immediate family first over me, even if we were to get married because he knows I will be okay no matter what. But we shall see what happens.

In the meantime, I start SAT prep tomorrow for my test in early December. It’s a long road ahead, but I’m excited and a little anxious to see what the future has in store.

Til next time,

Dani