The doctor came with his bag and his hat

[ailbhe]

And he knocked on the door with a rat-a-tat-tat.

I'm not ill. I have Post-Viral Mumble, which I think might have been syndrome. I am to rest and recover, and it could take a few weeks. (The cleaner says "Is that like post-natal depression?")

That's a few weeks of the children being secondary to the housework, of Linnea being shipped off to other people for chunks of every day and ignored while she's here... I think I might get better as fast as I can. I can't live up to my mother's standard of child-centred childcare, but my own standard is high enough.

Comments

[helenprev.livejournal.com]

*Hugs*

If Royal Mail get their fingers out you should receive a parcel of books tomorrow.

[perceval.livejournal.com]

You need to get better before you can start worrying about your standards again. My mum wasn't given the opportunity of recovering from her section - part of the reason I'm an only child, and I think it's still affecting her.

[supermouse.livejournal.com]

Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome?

If it is, then if you do about 70% of what you think you could, you will get better more quickly. When tired, rest, before you have to. This is the hardest part. Unfortunately, with PVFS (if it is), this is really not optional.

Hopefully it will be over very soon.

[alison.hemuk.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

What supermouse said.

Have you made plans for the week yet?
I'll be childfree Wednesday morning so that would be a great time for me to come round and play with your two! Did promise Nea "lots of children" too though :)

[ailbhe]

You were our plan for Wednesday. Proper playing with makes all the difference. We have nothing after Wednesday yet though.

[barakta]

I agree with all of this, rest does seem to be the /only/ thing you can do with these sorts of things to make them get better quicker or go away. I hope it does go away soonest allowing you to be the parent you would like to be able to be.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

We live in strange times when 'need to rest and recover, could be a few weeks' is not ill!

All the very best for a speedy recovery.

FWIW, from here it seems like your standards of child-centred childcare are very high indeed. I'd expect that the foundations you've laid with your kids will mean they'll be fine with a blip in the usual level of parental care while you recover.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

Having had post-viral syndrome myself, I can say that your doctor's definition of "not ill" is very odd indeed. It took three months of complete bedrest before I saw any improvement at all - I hope you're luckier than that. If it's any consolation, the earlier you're diagnosed, the better your chances, precisely because otherwise people tend to overdo it.

aegidian did all the childcare during that three months; I really couldn't have managed any of it. After three months, I was able to very slowly start doing things again, but I didn't go back to work for another three months, and I worked part-time for the first six months after that. I really had to prioritise my recovery above anything else, including orangebird, because otherwise, there was a real likelihood that I would be permanently disabled, as happened to a friend of ours who has had it for most of her life. She was given really bad advice early on[1], before the medical profession recognised post-viral syndrome, and as a result she didn't get the rest she needed. She can still only work part-time, and she can only do that because she's a deacon (previously a deaconess) and the CofE is a fairly understanding employer when it comes to this kind of thing.

One thing I found really helpful was to set myself one task per day - and at the start it would be something like "wash my hair" or "make myself a cup of tea" - and count the entire day a success if I managed that one thing, regardless of anything else that happened or didn't happen. Doing very, very gentle exercises in bed - things like pelvic tilts or rotating my feet to stretch my ankles - also helped me not to hate my body too much.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, you poor thing. *patpats comfortingly*

You really MUST rest now, or you could be seriously ill for months and months and months. I hope your mum can help.