Thoughtfulness

Waking up this morning was rough. I’m functioning on about four hours of sleep, and today was one of those days where I truly had to force myself to go to Urgent Care. You know you feel awful when you actually want to go.

I’ve been sick for weeks now, maybe even a month. I do try to let mild things pass by because I believe in the body’s ability to heal itself, but when you have a sore throat that feels swollen (as in, I couldn’t really drink a cup of tea), along with swollen glands, sinus pain and pressure, day seven of a migraine, and a vicious cough that is making you wheeze, you’ve got to face facts; you’re sick.

And so, off I went to seek out treatment. In total I was there maybe two hours, if that. My blood pressure was probably the best it’s EVER been in the last ten years; 125/75. That alone impressed me. My blood pressure is usually a good indicator of how stressed I am. The last time a nurse checked it, she thought the machine was broken. That’s how stressed I was and how poorly I was being treated. My temperature is low, but since my heart is beating, we’ll call me “sort of alive”.

Once I got in to see the doctor, it was pretty quick. The two tests that were run were both negative (Strep and Influenza. Both back in less than fifteen minutes.). I was diagnosed with a left ear infection, a bad sinus infection, and bronchitis. For me, that’s pretty darn sick considering I haven’t had a sinus infection since October of 2008, and that one required two rounds of antibiotics before I was better. I was discharged with ten days worth of antibiotics, a few days of cough medicine (I’ve taken two thus far, and it doesn’t seem to be helping.), and Flonase, which I was shocked to discover is covered by my insurance. If it hadn’t been, I would have passed on it. So far, I feel worse than I did when I walked in there, but it’ll take a few days for the antibiotics to do their thing.

When I got back from the pharmacy, I was met with some very caring, kind, thoughtful inquiries regarding my health. It genuinely touched me. For those of you that took the time to inquire: THANK YOU! I’ll never forget it.

Special thanks to Mass General/North Shore for taking good care of me.