The good, the bad, and the weird

Do you ever have those days where the good and bad were kind of intermingled and you weren't exactly sure how to feel about your day? Yeah, I had one of those days. Let's start with the good:

• I am officially #4 on the agency list! Whoo hoo! I was initially concerned because the info that Kelli had initially received made it sound like we wouldn't have another referral until August--which didn't make much sense. Evidently that is when they are expecting the next status report. I decided I also needed to check in with my coordinator and this is the e-mail she sent me:

We had a few matches yesterday which will move you to #4. We expect more matches late May and more in June. I'd guess your chances are very good for getting a match before the shutdown. I'm not positive about your dossier, but XXXX emailed me at least a week ago needing your photos - which indicates to me it's being filed. I'll check on it, but typically we just don't know the dates.

That's awesome news, right?!?

• I got off work early! Yippee! I met a former co-worker for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Normally I would have had a margarita (they are the best in the world, I swear. It's like liquid Valium. I have one and I'm ready to be tucked into bed).
• The bad news. I have cellulitis along my left arm and elbow and the doctor is concerned it could be MRSA. As you recall, last weekend my family came to visit and we did a lot of yard work. What I didn't tell you was that I was exposed to a bird. Now, I realize that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, but for me, it's like Kryptonite. I have such a severe allergy and have horrible hives as a result. I had a really bad (but brief!) bird exposure nearly two years ago. It took 2 rounds of high dose steroids (and I gained 30# thank you very much), multiple creams and ointments and finally an around the clock dosing of a pre-op sedative (have you ever tried to carry on a normal life while on a sedative???) before I finally began to improve. It took 8 weeks and at the end of it, I developed a mild case of cellulitis over my upper arms. My skin didn't blister, but the skin did peel off. Cellulitis tends to be a chronic condition. Once you are develop it once, you are at much higher risk any time you have a break in the skin integrity. So, the hives that have spread across my arms, chest, abdomen and knees gave the infection a perfect place to grow. The doctor put me on an oral antibiotic and a topical antibiotic and gave me a steroid injection to curb some of the intense itching. Hives don't sound like a big deal to many people, but severe hives are very painful and very itchy. Last time I had them it just felt like my skin was on fire. So now I have a fire-engine-red arm with swelling and drainage (yeah, that's the best part--nothing like a bacteria river flowing down your arm). That's my bad news. I'm hoping that a long weekend at home will improve them.
• The weird news: At first I thought I had a turkey in my yard. Noooo, it's a turkey vulture. That crazy animal is bigger than my cat! Just to get an idea of scale--the thing in it's mouth is a dead bird.

Despite the bad news, at the end of the day I'm going to sleep better knowing that I am number 4!!!!!