Peppermint Tea, Ginger and Flexibility

     As good as I thought Monday started out, it quickly devolved.  Shortly after I hit "Publish" on my post, I started to feel ill.  When I say ill, I mean ILL.  Over the last two days I have dealt with the effects of what we think was less than stellar seafood on Sunday night.  It was ugly.  We have narrowed it down to that because hubby was affected too- but he only ate a little of it and he was less affected.

    Monday at work I was....out of the office (I am sure you get my meaning) as much as I was in.  I think most of the 8800 steps on my Fitbit were earned running back and forth to the ladies room.  This continued all night to the point that I barely slept.  Yesterday morning I sent a text to my Assistant Manager asking her to cover my close as the issue was ongoing.  She graciously said yes and I crawled into my recliner and didn't move unless necessary for the day.

    Because of all of the meds I am on I prefer not to treat with medication when possible.  With previous damage to my liver (thanks MTX!) I am so afraid to take anything that affects that area. Thankfully I had a box of Twining's Peppermint Tea K-cups for my Keurig on hand.  Peppermint is a great soother for your stomach and it helped a lot.  I also keep Gin-Gins on hand all of the time because I just love them but Ginger also helps settle your stomach.  So these two became my saviors. I discovered the hard way that caffeine was a huge trigger.  I thought I was getting low on the Peppermint tea so I made a cup of green tea (less caffeine than coffee but still has it in it) and added mint from my garden and nearly undid the progress.   But, I found another box (YAY) that I had stashed away and in the meantime I switch to water in an infuser filled with fresh mint.  

     This morning I am feeling human again but I am taking all of those things with me *just in case* eating solid food sets me off again and I am stopping for flowers for my Assistant Manager who covered me yesterday and my Full-time bookseller.  They are both so good about covering the store when I am not doing well- be it illness or a flare- and I just want to show them that I appreciate it.  It's a small token but it's something I can do.  It's a total blessing that I have people at work who are flexible about changing their hours so that I can tend to my "stuff" and not worry about my job.  I am also grateful that I have sick time every year and that I have not had to max it out in any year as of yet.  I am often told "USE IT! You only get to carry over so much!" but I am always so afraid that the big flare will come and I will need it that I only use it sparingly.  I would rather lose the hours that I can't carry over than need it.

I hope you have a LOVELY Wednesday.  Give thanks today for any small thing that you can find- it makes even a rough situation a little better!