Headache and Stiff Neck

Since it was so hot Tuesday, we kept the air conditioner going when we went to bed. I was supposed to feed Michael every two hours. He did well, but I was so tired I kept falling asleep on my rocking chair! Maybe that is what caused my stiff neck. I don't know. Sometime after midnight I woke up with a terrific headache. I sat up in bed, holding my head. I also had chills and a stiff neck, but it was the headache that really scared me. Edward got some ibuprofen for me. Michael was waking up, so I got him. We turned the air conditioner off, since I was so cold. My head was pounding so bad I couldn't relax to feed Michael and could hardly lay down either. It seemed that after a while the ibuprofen took the edge off and I was able to fall asleep again. In the morning my head was pounding again. I have had a lot of headaches, but never before or since, have I had a headache like that. I also had a very stiff neck. I was so worried I was crying. What is wrong with me. Nothing relieved the headache much. Since we had to take Michael back for blood work anyway, I also made an appointment for myself. My doctor wasn't in, so I saw one of the other doctors there at the clinic. She ordered some blood work to make sure I don't have meningitis. Those tests looked OK, so the final conclusion was that the headache was caused by the stiff neck. Later when I went to the hospital with a heart attack the ER doctor thought that headache was probably angina, but when I asked the cardiologist later he said he didn't think so. My stiff neck soon got much better, but I had that headache for a week.

Wednesday evening Edward had to go to church for brothers' meeting I was feeling pretty bad, so I went up to our bedroom to rest and let the older children take care of the little ones. Later in the evening I fell asleep. I woke a little before Edward came home and was feeling much better. When he came home one of the first things he asked was, "How are you feeling?" When I said I was feeling better, he said they had prayed for me after they were done with their meeting. God answered their prayers. My headache was still there, but I was feeling somewhat better.

Thursday evening Edward and some of the older children went to pick more cherries. The trees were just loaded! We love cherries, so they picked and picked. :) Probably 12 ice cream buckets.

Almost everyone helped with pitting the cherries. I supervised from the rocking chair. :)

Irene and Annetta made pie filling with most of them. Some of them we just put in the freezer.

The finished product!

Almost 2 year old Rhoda kept things interesting. While the others were busy with the cherries, Jonathan (6) came in from the sun porch and said, "Rhoda is running around on top of the piano and I can't get her off! Big sister got some pictures before getting her down.

Friday evening Irene and Annetta went to sisters' meeting. I didn't feel up to going away yet. There was still some pie filling to finish, so I kept the canner going. Edward had to work late. I was so glad to see him come home!

Friday forenoon some of the girls' friends came to visit. One of them was getting ready to go to Haiti and they wanted to say good bye. She gave a CD for a gift. Irene had really wanted a CD like that and it turned out to be a God given blessing. Of course that CD got played over and over. One of the songs especially was really going to bless me in the days to come, but I will leave that for later... The name of the CD is "In the Presence of Jehovah". http://www.altarofpraise.com/product-p/ap1098.htm.