I went to the doctor Thursday, because my throat was sore and my left ear was killing me. The doctor looked at my nose, said it was okay; looked in my ears, said they were okay; looked at my throat, and lurched back slightly and said, “Oh, MY!” That was pretty awesome, when your throat looks so gross that the doctor reacts to it like that. The strep test came back negative, but she thought it looked bacterial, and gave me some antibiotics anyway. She said it could also be mono, but didn’t think that likely.
Thursday night was pretty rough: I was wretched between about 3am and 6am, and kind of wanted to go to the hospital. But I figured they’d just send me home, all, “You’ve got antibiotics. Make sure you drink plenty of water, and get out of here,” so I stuck it out at home. But my abdomen felt weird and kind of painful, so I went back to the doctor Friday. Awesome, huh? I felt a little silly, but 1-I didn’t want to *not* go to the doctor’s, only to end up going to the hospital over the weekend, and 2-I decided a $20 copay was better than a $200 copay (plus whatever else the hospital did). I told the doctor I was pretty much hoping she’d just “smoosh my stomach and tell me I’m worrying about nothing.” She smooshed the hell out of my abdomen, and it turns out – here’s the best part – I BRUISED MY FLOATING RIBS HULA HOOPING. How lame is that. And it’s not pleasant. It’s not the worst pain I’ve ever had, it’s not even that bad, but it’s just unpleasant and it’s very gross-feeling. Also, apparently you can tear the ligaments that connect your floating ribs. Grody!
Anyway, I felt a little better Saturday, and I feel much improved today, so yay for antibiotics! Also, yay for viscous lidocaine, which tastes fucking nasty, but takes a sore throat from “excruciating” to “almost nothing” in about two seconds.
Also, I seem to have gotten into poison ivy (or maybe poison oak).
Oh! But the most important thing, which I almost forgot: Being so wretchedly sick for several days made me realize that while I am generally sickly, I am actually pretty fucking healthy. I can’t remember the last time I felt so bad – maybe when I had my gallbladder out. I used to get strep throat all the time as a child – I can’t remember the last time I had it (or another bacterial throat infection). I mean, my stomach is a little punk, and it’s upset most days, but that’s really nothing. I got freaked out Thursday night/Friday morning because I hadn’t felt so bad in a long time, but how bad I felt is pretty much what most people feel when they’ve got strep or something similar. And I’m sure most people have an illness on that level, what, once or twice a year? And what do I get: daily stomach issues (irritating but usually not actually debilitating) and an occasional cold when the weather changes, and those colds are usually pretty damn mild. I have really been taking my health for granted. That’s a good thing to realize, so I can stop doing it.
Now if only my fucking ribs would get better already, so I can hoop some more.
