Nothing To See Here, I'm Just Dying

It all started about ten days ago. I noticed my throat was beginning to tingle. A few days later, A started running a fever. I checked her throat, but didn't notice anything sore and she didn't have any other symptoms. With a pending appointment just a few days away for my physical, I decided to wait until then to see a doctor. I figured if it got worse, the appointment would be there, and if not, no biggie.

As (my) luck would have it, I did get worse. As the nurse was triaging me, I informed her I had been dealing with a sore throat for a few days and would probably need a WBC, strep test, and antibiotics. She informed me that I would not be getting a WBC, strep test, or antibiotic prescription because I was here for a physical not a sick visit. Without going off on the dumb bitch, I decided to wait until I was in the room with the doctor to address my concerns.

As (my) luck would continue to have it, I was informed I would not be seeing the doctor I made the appointment for because I was no longer able to see them. Apparently there had been a mistake. That mistake would be something no one was willing to allude further into, except to say I would not be able to see that doctor ever again. The same doctor who had yet to fully see me and only saw me in the middle of K's appointments because I was "five minutes late" or the front desk crew scheduled me wrong. I'm pretty sure it had to do with me visiting the office manager after the last fiasco.

Not willing to fight with these dumb bitches any more, I just agreed to see the doctor they put me with, who apparently was on his way out of the office. He did my pap, refused to look at my throat with a light or do a swab, and had to be reminded on his way out of the office with his briefcase in tow, that I had labs to be discussed. When I asked about my liver function, in preparation for a new medication I'm about to start that reeks havoc on a healthy liver, he told me mine was fine, then scrolled down and said "Ah, there are two parts that are elevated, but otherwise everything is great!" I know, I know. WTF, right?

The next day, I woke up feeling like I had been ran over. Fever, congestion, sinus pressure, sore throat, raw tonsils, voice disappearing, and body aches. A's going-on-five-days-now fever was now accompanied by the same symptoms I had, minus the red throat and tonsils. Obviously the health department was out. They don't care about me on a well visit, much less on a sick visit. I told K to sign a form and NYEBoy and I headed to a local doctors office to pay out of pocket for both of us to get seen.

Of course everyone in the office kept whispering about A. I know every one's kids are cute, but I can't tell you how often I get stopped with people telling us how beautiful A is. As soon as the doctor walked into our room, her first words were "Oh my, they didn't tell me I was coming to see someone so beautiful." It makes me feel good because if it were up to K, she's never have her hair brushed or dress decent.

The doctor and I discussed our symptoms. She checked our ears, throats, and listened to our chests. We discussed my medical history briefly. She was very attentive. She even got on to me for not having Medicaid because of my lack of insurance and my medical history. (Do you think I have EVER heard such caring words from a doctor from the health department? I think not.)

We decided to run a strep tests, but regardless of the outcome, I would for sure be getting antibiotics because I was so sick and have had a history of not being able to get over things without several rounds of antibiotics. But, we didn't want to put A on antibiotics unless we had to. She deemed us viral, but sent us on our way with a prescription for antibiotics for me. (I also had a kidney infection.)

Over the weekend, A and I went from bad to worse. The sinus pressure was absolutely horrible. I sat in a hot bath, put a sock full of hot dry rice on my face, and rubbed the pressure points between my thumb and index fingers until I couldn't rub any longer hoping to relieve the pain. It helped, but only briefly. By Monday morning, I felt like I was dyyyyyyying. I called as soon as the clock turned to 8:00, when they opened.

I nursed a migraine, fever, and congestion all day while NYEBoy was at work and school. I told him at noon I wanted to go to the doctor that day since I was still sick and A spent the whole night running at 101 fever. He said he would get home early. I sent him two texts at 3 to remind him. He was home right at 4. As I was putting my hair up, I received a phone call from the doctors office. The nurse asked what was going on, heard the desperation in my voice (or the lack thereof) and told me she would have the doctor call me back. The doctor called me back within 3 minutes. As soon as she heard me, she told me to stop whatever I was doing and to get into her office NOW. They didn't know I was getting ready to come in anyways, so the timing was perfect.

Once we arrived, the nurse pulled us back and did our BP and temps. The doctor came in shortly after. We discussed the weekend and determined it was time to get stronger antibiotics for me and to go ahead and started A on some antibiotics. We discussed shots, but I didn't hear anything else once she came back in with the samples of the new antibiotic for me.

I woke up this morning with a phone call from the nurse telling me the doctor forgot to give me a shot yesterday, so I needed to come in at some point today to get a bruise on my ass.

A and I woke up feeling about the same as yesterday, which is a far cry from feeling worse. I'm really hoping the meds are hitting our system. I hate feeling so bad and I hate the babygirl feeling bad even worse.

The doctor didn't charge us for yesterdays visit, either. Seriously? I love that woman. She actually cares about us, just like my physicians did back home.

I hope we're feeling better by tomorrow. Why, you ask? Check back to see.