Let's talk, Mano con Mono

So I've been sick lately. Like really sick. I went to the doctor's and they originally said I had Strep. After taking some form of penicillin for 3 days my symptoms had not yet subsided so I decide to go BACK to the doctor.

This is a Sunday. I wake up feeling excessively horrible and decide to check my temperature. After inserting the $10 piece of plastic that beeps after a while into my mouth I look at it and see 103.6. Now, I know from previous chats with friends that 105 is the "boiling point" literally for you brain, so I decide to call my step father to drive my happy ass to the "Immediate" Health Care.

I love that term, Immediate, who are they trying to fool? Anyways, I show up at around 10:20 a.m. and am the only person in sight. YAY!! That means I don't have to wait forever! *remind myself always check enthusiasm at the door* Well, turns out there Are people inside, but my wait isn't that long to see the doctor.

I go into that little cheap room, looking at the fixtures, specifically remembering ordering them and model number and everything... (hey, it's what I do...) doctor comes in, does a throat swab and calmly states, "Congratulations, you have the ugliest throat in the county! Your swab came back negative. we are going to send you to the hospital to do some blood work, since they have the only lab that is open on Sunday's. We think it could be Mono."

So we trek ourselves down to the hospital. On a Sunday. We get down and check in. My fever has been hopping around at 102.5 - 103.7 all morning. I haven't eaten, I haven't had anything to drink, and I'm sitting in a hospital. I HATE HOSPITALS!!!

I wait for an HOUR for lab tech to come to take my blood. And by the time she is there, she can't find my veins because I am so dehydrated. Eventually she takes it from my hand, and we head back to IHC.

Hospital says 20 minutes for results, takes 12 to get to the other side of town. The time is now 12:45. Ya, been sittin' that long. We get to IHC and sit to wait. Still no food, no drink. My head is on fire and I'm tired as hell!!!

So I lay across a double chair and rest my head on a wooden arm. After about 15 minutes one of the receptionist finally asks if I would like to just go sit back in a room. I proceed to hobble back into another little room and lay on one of those little half bed examination things and actually fall asleep!

I'm not sure how long I was out, but when the doctor Finally came in it was about 2:20 p.m. He told my results came back and that there was no sign of Mono (yay) and that my white blood cells where incredibly high, meaning it was probably just a bacteria. So there were going to put me on a very strong dose of penicillin and go from there. They gave me a nice shot in the hip and my prescription is for 3 GRAMS a day...

I get home and before I decide to pass out again, this time for the day, I check my fever one more time. 104.7. Yup, that's right, |...| this close to boiling my brains.

Because of my excessive breaking of fevers and sweating I have been sleeping on the couch for 3 days. I got tired of washing my sheets over and over again.

So last night, my fever is gone, i've been feeling pretty good but still decided to sleep on the couch. As I am laying here I feel incredibly cold. I think to myself, "This house has storm windows all around, I should probably just get up and shut the second door, as I am sure that it would help quite a bit."

I stumble up off the couch, walk around to the end, around the chair, behind the couch to the door, reach for the handle and... Suddenly realize the door isn't even shut, just the screen. That's right, cold air HAS been blowing in, not just my imagination. So I promptly shut both doors, skulk to the thermostat, turn it up, and crash back on the couch.

Moral of this story:

Brain cells are like friends, you never know how important they are until they are gone.