Happy Thanksgiving!

Boy this has been a sucky week on the health front. On the food front, pretty good. On the sex front, great! But the health front, just... damn.

I'll start on Sunday night, when we went out to see Catching Fire. When we got home, I didn't feel well but I chalked it up to loud sounds and too much popcorn. Monday morning however, was a totally different story. I was in agony, all over. I was too hot, then too cold, my head hurt, my teeth kept clenching, my stomach felt like it was going to come out of my too small throat, and my throat felt like it was going to close on me. I think I mentioned this, but it deserves a repeat. I. Was. Miserable. Then hubby came home and made me feel better with lots of crying, medicine, some crackers, and some restorative sleeping.
Tuesday, I still felt bad, but I took some Allegra-D and while it didn't cover all the yucky feelings inside, it was good enough to get me through the day and into Wednesday.
Wednesday, we had some errands to run, one of which was finally picking up the first Harry Potter novel from the library so I can reread the series. Afterward we went out to eat at a pretty awesome Sandwich place because I didn't want to cook the day before Thanksgiving. I was still nauseous at the drop of a hat, so I only got to eat half my sandwich though it was yummy. And I think I read something or other. I'm not too clear on it, but Hubby pissed me off because he kept tickling me, so I tried to kick him and ended up bruising my ankle on his elbow. Yeahhhhh not our best moment.
Thursday, I woke up pissed off. I think I'll explain later, but essentially, I knew I wasn't feeling well, I slept late, I knew it was *the* day for cooking, and I got up pissed. Poor hubby helped me cook for two and a half hours, after which dinner was ready, but I wasn't really able or willing to eat much. We had ham, mac'n'cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, honey crescent rolls, sweet cornbread, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie (made with kabocha because we went to three stores and none of them had pie pumpkins), and little one-serving sweet potato casseroles. Not bad, right?
Then today I woke up and just knew it sucked to be me. My throat once again felt like it was closing, my head still hurt, my stomach still didn't like me, and it had been FIVE DAYS since it started. I couldn't even talk. Whispering hurt like a freakin' acid. So hubby got out the computer and I typed to him, asking him to call my doctor and arrange for me to come in if they were open. The first time, we got a message talking about them being closed on Thanksgiving but in business on Friday, so I thought maybe they hadn't changed their message, and asked him to call back after 1. Well, I was right, and they told us to come on in. We did, and Hubby handled all the talking, then sat down in the waiting room with me and the laptop where I continued to talk to him. Then we went to the back, where I had my temperature and blood pressure taken and the nurse went away. While we were waiting, I heard the nurses/receptionists talking about how one of them called the doctor and asked if she was coming back, because they had a patient. So I was like O_O); Really? ..... =.=); We might be waiting a while.
But she came in within ten minutes, so it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd been expecting. ....But it wasn't my doctor. Then she didn't even introduce herself. I still don't know her name. She looked at the stats the nurse had taken, and was like "99? Well, you don't have a fever...So what other symptoms do you have?" and Hubby explained, then mentioned (I was very glad he remembered) that my normal temperature is actually 96.8 so yes, 99 was a fever for me. She looked in my ears, checked down my throat, listened to my heart beat, and felt my throat. Yes, that was it. Then she said "So do you want the shot or the pills?"
We were so confused. I asked "What is it?" but no one understood me, so she took that to be, what are the shots and pills. She said they were antibiotics, and that with my throat that bad, I probably couldn't swallow pills, so it would have to be the shot. I asked which one took effect sooner, and she said the shot. I cannot, repeat CANNOT attend classes with a communicable disease, so I immediately chose the shot. THEN she said, "I have to warn you, the antibodies are a very viscous, cold liquid that either gets injected into your thigh or your buttock, so you'll definitely feel it." I got tears in my eyes (I don't like needles) but was still committed to the shot. So she said she would send the nurse in, but before she escaped, I or hubby asked her what was wrong, and she simply said 'throat infection'. Then she left.

I was going to continue the story, but I want to take a moment here to expand on my growing lack of confidence in this woman. The difference between a viral infection and a bacterial infection are not that big, except for treatment. IF you treat a viral infection as a bacterial one, it can backfire on you. Badly. So the simplest way to test whether it's bacterial or not is to do a swab. ....She did not do one. Here's a simple explanation of the differences between the two, as well as the symptoms: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/tc/sore-throat-topic-overview My symptoms clearly match a viral infection, and I've had strep throat more times than I have fingers on one hand. She could have asked, or mentioned what she thought it was, or SOMETHING, but she did not. I'll resume my story now.

So, we're waiting, and then she comes back in, and hands me a prescription. She also mentions I might want to pick up Mucinex to go with it, to help with the congestion and cough. Hubby asked if that meant I wasn't going to get the shot, and she said no, the nurse would be in shortly. I asked what happened to Doctor Wendy, and she simply said that Wendy no longer works in that office. I asked if Allegra-D would work just as well, and she said something about if it was helpful so far, why not and left again, without explaining what exactly she'd given me. We kinda looked at each other with this 'The fuck? Do we really wanna do what this woman says?' face, but then the nurse came and told me to sit down. Hubby stood by me while we let a woman with bloodshot eyes stick a two inch long needle in my right thigh and then press it deeper and deeper. I didn't cry, and I didn't make a sound. The fact that I couldn't make a sound does not lessen my pride in not having whimpered. It was indeed painful. I was very happy to have her go. But then we had to go too and they were asking about a followup appointment I had scheduled with Doctor Wendy about my hypothyroidism, and frankly I'm not sure I ever want to see them again. But for now, I went with it (not like I could have argued), and when we got out, we saw the Doctor. Hubby (thank goodness for smart men) immediately got her attention and asked about the prescription.
She said the top one was antibiotics (so why did I get a shot?? We both thought one meant you didn't need the other, but apparently we were wrong), and the bottom one was for the inflammation and itching. That's all she said.
Well, we left and went to get our prescription filled. :( At Walmart. On Black Friday. It actually wasn't too bad, but we got another shock at the counter. The price was decent, but the shock actually came when the pharmacist explained what the pills were for, and how many I'm taking. She said "The first one is an antibiotic, you take one every twelve hours, and if you're on any birth control, you should know this medicine reduces the effectiveness of it, and should take secondary precautions." That floored us. Well, that and the size of the pills she showed us. Who the hell makes pills half an inch thick and over an inch long for people with throat problems??? But we got over the size, and Hubby asked for clarification. She said yes, any hormonal birth control will definitely be affected. Well. We're gonna be taking extra precautions this week!
And then. She explained the second set of pills. Oh. my. goodness. She said "And these are steroids. For the first 4 days, you'll be taking 6 pills every 12 hours, and for the last 2 days, you'll be taking 4 pills every 12 hours. Make sure you take all of these medicines with food, or it could make you sick." Back up. The chick gave me STEROIDS??? And didn't mention it? Go a little forward: SIX PILLS? Every 12 hours, I'm supposed to swallow seven-five pills, for a week or so? You want me on antibiotics and steroids that mess with my birth control (which often causes tubal pregnancy, which is a danger to you and the infant) and you didn't say anything to me about any of it? REALLY???

So yes, I'm pretty damn happy to change my doctor to one of Hubby's free school clinic doctors, assuming I can get all my paperwork transferred over. This chick explained nothing without our asking, and the bare minimum when we asked. On top of that, antibiotics frequently cause yeast infections (and my family is surprisingly susceptible to them) and as a doctor, she should have at least mentioned it or asked if that would be a problem for me. I'm really hesitant to actually take this medicine when I don't know that my infection is actually bacterial at all. But then I tell myself that I'm already filled with antibiotics from the shot and I should just take it all, since I accepted from the start. But I'm slack-jawed at the sloppiness of this woman, and I really miss my doctor. ;___;

Now here's my possibility section. The things I think it could be, but didn't get to ask about, and don't feel confident asking her. I could be allergic to mold, ants, or some tree in T that isn't in NC. This is getting less and less likely as the allergy medicine didn't clear everything up. Another thing is, I've had strep and mono, and/or some combination of the two several times. They usually aren't this severe, but in general, strep and mono are also very contagious. Hubby has been fine, despite all the lip-locks we've done this week. So maybe my body has twisted those bacteria into a recurring plague that comes for me whenever I get weak or stressed or the weather changes too suddenly. That's also possible, and could explain why it's just me on the damn sickbed. Don't get me wrong, I'm overjoyed that Hubby doesn't have to suffer this with me. I just always want to know the whys of everything, and this bothers me. What is this? Why doesn't anyone else seem to be getting this??

And there you have my week. There was other stuff, but I'm pretty much only posting on what I'm focusing on at the moment. :P Good night!


This is very nice. I liked this. Please listen to it.