Group A Streptococcus
For the second time in three months, both times oddly enough exactly three days after the end of finals I find myself laid very, very low with strep throat. Why it's called strep throat is beyond me, my throat occasionally seems less affected than, oh, every other part of my body.
Unremitting fever, body aches which, mercifully have receded to just my head and neck. For a bit there though they made my hips and lower back feel like I'd been whacked with a gumboot repeatedly. I have a lymph node in my neck which is swollen to the size of a chicken egg. And as you'd expect with strep, my throat feels like I've been gargling with razor blades.
For those of you who are fortunate enough to reside somewhere outside the US, here's what had to happen today so that I could obtain a script for some pennicillin. I should note that I am not one to gobble antibiotics at the drop of a hat, but seriously, I was considering suicide. I called the designated insurance company run clinic. The receptionist asked what my symptoms were, then transferred me to a phone triage nurse (at least I hope she was a nurse). I then had to jump up and down and insist that no, I really didn't think I have the flu (no cough, runny nose - rather prerequisite symptoms for influenza). And what sort of cold presents with a 102 degrees of fever for three days straight??? Finally, grudgingly she suggested I come in to have my throat swabbed for cuture. She was sure to stress that I wouldn't be seeing a doctor "Only a nurse". Yeah, whatever lady. The janitor could poke a swab down the back of my throat, for all I cared, if it meant that I could have my GODDAMN penicillin ALREADY!!
Then off to the dentist. I tried to beg off this particular appointment this morning but seeing as I'd been trying to go for some 6 months and this was the only opening I figured all I had to do was lie in a chair and open my mouth and they had a sucker thing to suck all of the spit out of my mouth, relieving me of the very unpleasant (currently) task of swallowing for an hour or so. That worked out nicely. My Mama will be pleased to hear that at the ripe old age of almost 30, her daughter's cavity count still stands at 1 filling, ever. The dentist was positively crowing about "what great teeth I have". I'm with you and the dentist Ma, the flouride in the bottles did the trick. So much so that I left the dentists office with a prescription for flouride for the rugrats. In contrast Husbands teeth (interestingly but unpleasantly affected prenatally by tetracycline) are in horrible shape. His soda addiction and weak teeth are culminating this year in more than $1200 in dental work. Suffice to say the sugar is leaving the building.
I left the dentists as the one-two tylenol/ibuprofen punch were waning and my chills were creeping back. I was dizzy as I walked across the road to collect Rugrats from Husband and realized that might be due to not eating for three days. Huh.
What followed was a 20 minute, dazed, fuzzy drive off the island to stupid Insurance Company Clinic. Waiting room filled with very elderly people. They had turned up the buzzer on the "it's your turn number" thing, and so every couple of minutes there was a massively irritating LOUD BEEP. Sometimes twice and three times so the poor old dears could hear. Naughty was decidedly unimpressed by my strategy to strap him to his stroller and thereby avoid his favorite waiting room game of sprinting out the door and into the middle of the road. Truth be told I think I would have just sat in my chair and watched him get run over, such is my fatigue. So instead I did my best to keep him interested with Green Eggs and Ham while we waited for the test, then the results (positive - duh!), then the freaking pharmacy. How long does it take to dispense a 10 day course of antibiotics? 27 long, toddler shrieking, minutes.
And so now all I have to do is keep taking the blessed antibiotics for the full ten days. Bleugh. Seriously, they should give Florey the Nobel Prize again. Hope to not have a sore neck tomorrow.
Unremitting fever, body aches which, mercifully have receded to just my head and neck. For a bit there though they made my hips and lower back feel like I'd been whacked with a gumboot repeatedly. I have a lymph node in my neck which is swollen to the size of a chicken egg. And as you'd expect with strep, my throat feels like I've been gargling with razor blades.
For those of you who are fortunate enough to reside somewhere outside the US, here's what had to happen today so that I could obtain a script for some pennicillin. I should note that I am not one to gobble antibiotics at the drop of a hat, but seriously, I was considering suicide. I called the designated insurance company run clinic. The receptionist asked what my symptoms were, then transferred me to a phone triage nurse (at least I hope she was a nurse). I then had to jump up and down and insist that no, I really didn't think I have the flu (no cough, runny nose - rather prerequisite symptoms for influenza). And what sort of cold presents with a 102 degrees of fever for three days straight??? Finally, grudgingly she suggested I come in to have my throat swabbed for cuture. She was sure to stress that I wouldn't be seeing a doctor "Only a nurse". Yeah, whatever lady. The janitor could poke a swab down the back of my throat, for all I cared, if it meant that I could have my GODDAMN penicillin ALREADY!!
Then off to the dentist. I tried to beg off this particular appointment this morning but seeing as I'd been trying to go for some 6 months and this was the only opening I figured all I had to do was lie in a chair and open my mouth and they had a sucker thing to suck all of the spit out of my mouth, relieving me of the very unpleasant (currently) task of swallowing for an hour or so. That worked out nicely. My Mama will be pleased to hear that at the ripe old age of almost 30, her daughter's cavity count still stands at 1 filling, ever. The dentist was positively crowing about "what great teeth I have". I'm with you and the dentist Ma, the flouride in the bottles did the trick. So much so that I left the dentists office with a prescription for flouride for the rugrats. In contrast Husbands teeth (interestingly but unpleasantly affected prenatally by tetracycline) are in horrible shape. His soda addiction and weak teeth are culminating this year in more than $1200 in dental work. Suffice to say the sugar is leaving the building.
I left the dentists as the one-two tylenol/ibuprofen punch were waning and my chills were creeping back. I was dizzy as I walked across the road to collect Rugrats from Husband and realized that might be due to not eating for three days. Huh.
What followed was a 20 minute, dazed, fuzzy drive off the island to stupid Insurance Company Clinic. Waiting room filled with very elderly people. They had turned up the buzzer on the "it's your turn number" thing, and so every couple of minutes there was a massively irritating LOUD BEEP. Sometimes twice and three times so the poor old dears could hear. Naughty was decidedly unimpressed by my strategy to strap him to his stroller and thereby avoid his favorite waiting room game of sprinting out the door and into the middle of the road. Truth be told I think I would have just sat in my chair and watched him get run over, such is my fatigue. So instead I did my best to keep him interested with Green Eggs and Ham while we waited for the test, then the results (positive - duh!), then the freaking pharmacy. How long does it take to dispense a 10 day course of antibiotics? 27 long, toddler shrieking, minutes.
And so now all I have to do is keep taking the blessed antibiotics for the full ten days. Bleugh. Seriously, they should give Florey the Nobel Prize again. Hope to not have a sore neck tomorrow.
Labels: Strep Throat
posted by Louisa at 3:13 PM
3 comments
