Surviving As Mom

We recently returned from a 10 day family vacation. It was a lot of work, but enjoyable. Of course, I pushed myself too hard and I’m paying for it now. No surprise there.

We’ve been back about 2 weeks now and half of us tested positive for Covid. It started with my youngest while we were still away. He had cold like symptoms about 2 days before we were to come home. I thought it was allergies because it was so minor. Then 2 days after returning home I felt sick and tested positive. 5/6 of us felt a bit crappy for a week. but somehow not all tested positive. Skip forward 2 weeks and I’m still feeling bad. I took Paxlovid (Covid meds) to help me get through it, but I still have lingering symptoms. I believe the trip, plus Covid, plus coming off of prednisone all caused a flare up of my autoimmune symptoms. It usually happens after a vacation anyway. Its just annoying to have the sniffles, sinus pressure, and cough on top of it. The congestion just won’t go away. It is relatively minor compared to the first time I had Covid, only 4 months ago.

Let me back up a bit. Our vacation was like 2 in 1 with a lot of movement in between due to some hotel hopping. My husband always tries to maximize our time away, which is great for everyone, but very hard for me. I’m a team player though so I try to keep up for the good of the family, even if it almost kills me in the process.

First, we spent 2 nights at the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser in DisneyWorld. If you don’t know what that is, definitely check out some youtube videos. It is basically a Star Wars cosplay interactive experience. There are actors that put on a show that involves all the guests. We each had costumes to play along and pretend we were traveling through space and fighting against capture by the Empire. We each choose sides and a storyline to play along to. There was almost constant action. I struggled to keep up, but it was enjoyable.

Normally I take Prednisone the day before our flight to keep me well enough to enjoy our trip. This time I resisted because I was doing fairly well. Unfortunately, by the 2nd day I was in so much pain I could hardly walk so I had to give in and take it. I hate taking Prednisone!

Anyway, after that we left to stay in another hotel for one night until our cruise the next day. We went on the new Disney Wish for a 4 day cruise. This is always my favorite part. I love cruising, though with only 4 nights there wasn’t much rest to be had. The ship only started cruising this summer and still had some things unfinished. I didn’t care though. The ship was absolutely beautiful. It was princess themed with Cinderella being the main focus. It made 2 stops, first in Nassau, Bahamas where we swam with a dolphin. After that, we rented a covered bed on the beach and rested for a few hours while the kids played in the water until it was time to get back on the ship. It was an amazing experience with my husband and kids. The next day we stopped at Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. There we fed and snorkeled with sting rays. I really enjoyed that adventure. It was relatively low key so I was able to handle it with lots of rest after. I try to do only the easy stuff because I can’t handle most adventures that are offered on the islands. Once back on the ship, we enjoyed all the food and amenities until it was over.

We got back home late Friday and the kids started school the following Tuesday. Then Covid hit us. We expected to get sick with something on our trip. Between the Disney parks, hotels, cruise ship, and flights, we usually catch something so we weren’t too worried. We decided it was worth the risk because we need to keep living and not hide from the world. Life goes on, right?

So here I am now with lots of amazing memories and pictures. I think it was worth it! Plus, now we’ll all have immunity for a few months. I’m just trying to get back into regular life and back to school routines. I’m hoping to feel better soon. Hoping this flare doesn’t last too long. Although I usually flare up this time of year as the weather gets cooler. I usually flare all winter anyway so what’s the difference? It is what it is. Now I gotta try to recover before our next vacation.