Health update: Bacteria strikes again

I’ve been struggling to write about how this week has gone without it sounding like a pity party, but I think I just need to be honest and admit it kind of is.

The goal was to return to my city, socialize with friends for my birthday and see how I held up trying to return to a somewhat normal life, then go to Pennsylvania for a cousins wedding. At this point 90% of those plans were cancelled, not a birthday thing was done. I was not feeling great coming off an antibiotic round so I waited to see my friends. My birthday night I started into what was the beginning of a brutal herx paired with severe stomach pain. After a few days the herx ebbed but the stomach pain was more intense. Finally Friday morning, I woke up in screaming pain and almost threw up just trying to get water down. It was time for a hospital. After a very long wait and more than a few tears, the ER doc diagnosed me with a  intestinal bacterial infection and sent me on my way with a script for more antibiotics. He was enough to check with my Lyme Doctor that this was the right move for me.
Its been 5 days of treating the stomach infection and the pain is down to mild discomfort but the gastro issues wont leave and the heavy antibiotics are making me dizzy. On the plus side I’m sleeping about 14 hours a day so I can avoid some of the symptoms.
Now that I’ve missed most of my plans I have to decide tomorrow if I will miss them all and cancel my plans to go to PA. I very much want to go see my family, but it really is miserable to feel awful and try to fake it.

As most people who are chronically ill know, its a constant game of guessing how bad you will feel. Do you push through or forgo the chance. I think I will sleep on it and try to think optimistically. I am a warrior, but even warriors need recovery.