February is turning out to be something of an ordeal for Abby and me. Abby was hospitalized for five days, has been to the emergency room twice three times, and has missed more than two weeks of work so far.

Then last night, just as I got home from work, Abby began having intense itching on her forearms. We put some steroid cream on it, and I gave her 100mg of Benadryl, and 20mg of prednisone. Alas, it continued to get worse and spread. I kept a close watch on her to make sure she didn’t have any airway constriction or trouble swallowing, and several times offered to take her to the ER. But as the night wore on, it stopped getting worse, and we decided the ER would just give her the same meds I’d given her. We ruled out all the usual suspects, like new laundry soap, food allergies, or medications. I suppose it might be a delayed reaction to some of the antibiotics she received, but onset was so sudden, and it’s been five days she she took any, I have no idea, really, what it might be.

So much of what is wrong with Abby’s health is idiopathic, meaning we don’t know what causes it. All I can do is try to make her comfortable and make sure her symptoms aren’t life-threatening, and to take her to the ER when they are.

When I get stressed and depressed about her situation, I remember that no matter what, she has it worse than I do, and I need to suck it up and do what I need to do.

Today she seemed stable, and since it was sunny and mild out, I decided I needed to be outside, doing something. I picked up some branches, repaired a piece of siding, painted my shooting targets, and mowed some areas that were shaggy with pre-spring grass. Around the old walnut tree, I mowed in an ever-growing concentric pattern. The cut grass smelled like summer, as do I now.