Plumbers and Tummy Bugs

These two things (plumbers and stomach bugs) pretty much sum up my week.

On Monday morning both Rob and I woke up feeling a little ill. He went off to school and I put all the kids in the car and went off to the pediatrician for Stephen's check-up. As I sat waiting I felt more and more sick. We then headed home and the stomach pain was increasing. I also felt flu-like symptoms. Luckily it was nap-time and all three boys went to sleep. While they were sleeping the pain got so bad I think I was holding my breath and so I began to lose feeling in my limbs. It was kind of scary. It reminded me of when I had a kidney stone 4 years ago. All I wanted to do was vomit it out because I knew that the pain then wouldn't be so bad. I contacted Rob and he rushed home. He gave me some water to drink and immediately after that I threw up about a gallon, all over myself and all over the living room. I felt a little better - just weak stomach pains and the flu symptoms were still there. I went to bed and slept while Rob sorted out the boys even though he wasn't feeling well himself. I think I slept for 2 or 3 hours and when I woke up I felt a lot better. The stomach pain was pretty much gone and I only felt like I had a slight fever. I was so grateful. Poor Rob only feels totally better today.

In our basement we have a laundry room. In the laundry room is a drain in the floor. On Tuesday water came out of that drain from the main sewage line and kept rising and rising. I only discovered this when the laundry was covered in 2 inches of water and it had spread down the entire (carpeted) passageway and into the one bedroom. I contacted Rob and he explained how to snake the main sewer line. I did that for about 30 or 40 minutes but nothing changed. The water level remained constant. So I called a plumber and he came a few hours later. By the time he came the water had gone down the drain again. I suppose I did something, but I knew I hadn't fixed the problem. The plumber found that there was a clump of roots in the sewer which was blocking the water from going out. He pulled it out and the accumulated mass was the size of my head. He said that our apple tree in the front of our house had been planted over the main line and the roots had cracked and grown into the pipes. He said if we did not remove the tree soon it would happen again and it would be likely we would have a sink hole in front of our house too. So sad! That tree produces hundreds of delicious apples which I was so excited about canning, making into apple juice, apple sauce, apple pie, and so on.

The culprit

The carpet in the basement is ruined! I put a fan down there and we opened the windows to try dry it out but  it wasn't happening. It was stinky and we knew it would probably get moldy so Rob had to remove the carpet in the passageway. He did that 2 days ago and the concrete still hasn't really dried. The joy of basements! We don't have the money to replace the carpet yet so it looks awful down there, but what can you do?

Otherwise, I've been feeling like supermom this week. The trip to Hawaii did wonders and I feel recharged and ready to go. I have accomplished a lot and still feel good despite not sleeping well each night and starting off the week being sick.