You give me fever

My new bffs this week:

 

 

and

 

 

Being sick is so lame.  L and I were in Dallas all weekend for Labor Day and had a fab time, but I definitely caught a stomach bug while we were at his parents' house on Saturday (I know this because my two brothers-in-law on L's side also had the same thing as me).  I started feeling "off" when we got to the airport on Monday afternoon but I was able to make it through the flight just fine.  As soon as we got home, I knew something was wrong.  L spent the night on the couch (along with Tuesday and Wednesday nights) and I spent the night making trip after trip to the bathroom and sleeping for about 2 hours.  It goes without saying that I've had better nights.  Tuesday morning arrived and brought with it fever that didn't care to leave me until Thursday morning.  When I realized fever was involved around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, I decided to look up my symptoms (nausea, fever, achiness) online on Monday night/Tuesday morning, and here are the options I was given:

• Mono
• Gastroenteritis (a.k.a., stomach flu)
• Tuberculosis
• AIDS
• Appendicitis
• Diverticulitis
• Pancreatitis
• Hepatitis
• Colitis
• Ear Infection
• Pyelonephritis (a.k.a., kidney infection)
• Meningitis

This is precisely why you should never look up your symptoms on medical websites.  I know for sure I have two (possibly more if it's a bad day) friends that I can guarantee would have immediately started thinking it was more than stomach flu.  Given that I don't engage in risky sexual behavior, I immediately knew I could rule out AIDS and Hepatitis.  I also felt safe ruling out Appendicitis, since I lacked the tell-tale extreme pain in my appendix region.  I also ruled out mono because while I was extremely fatigued, it wasn't any more extreme than what I would normally expect for a night spent running to and from the bathroom with minimal sleep.  I have no idea why TB came up since the only matching symptoms were fever and sweatiness, so that one was out.  I've had a kidney infection so I know what that feels like, and it's not what I've felt like this week.  I might have an ear infection, but since when do those lead to barfing and upset tummies?  Anyway, it pretty much just confirmed what I already knew- I have some variation of the stomach flu.  I just thought it was funny that so many other options came up and that several of them seemed incredibly extreme.

 

You might be wondering, "Stupid Team LC, why didn't you go to the doctor?"  Well, I tried.  I got frustrated on Wednesday afternoon because my fever just would NOT go away (high was 101.0, then it dropped and hovered around 99.3 for hours) so I went to Minute Clinic.  I waited an hour and a half before the doctor called me in and the doctor lady asked me what was wrong.  I started from the beginning and mentioned that I had started off with stomach flu symptoms and before I could go any further and tell her that I didn't have those same problems anymore, she informed me that I "looked kinda rough" and that I needed to go to the urgent care clinic that's like 5 miles away.  Um, wtf???  She apologized for my wait time and reiterated that I looked rough and when I asked why I needed to go to urgent care for my fever, she explained it was because that's where stomach issues are treated in case IV fluids need to be administered.  Then she gave me the address, asked me if I knew where the street was (I did but that mean I automatically KNOW WHERE THE PLACE IS- hello, I'm not a GPS) and booted me out.  Was it necessary to tell me TWICE that I looked like a homeless person?  I DON'T THINK SO.  Thanks for kicking me while I was down, Doc.  I know what I looked like- cargo pants, a Threadgill's t-shirt, hair in a messy pony tail, and no make up.  I know what that looks like.  And I didn't care because I felt bad, which should obviously go without saying because that's why people go to Minute Clinic in the first place.  So I went to my car, called L, and broke down in tears.  Because that's productive and helpful.  I just had no idea what to do and I was so frustrated and tired of feeling so bad.  I don't get sick very often but let me tell you, when I do, I go down hard.  I opted to NOT go sit in another line at another clinic and toughed it out at home. 

Fast forward to this morning and I woke up without fever, so that mean that I met my criteria for being able to go to work: no fever, no nausea/vomiting, no longer contagious.  So I dressed for comfort and spent the day guzzling water from my giant insulated cup that I've had since the summer of '98 (how I still have it, I do not know).  This might be TMI, but apparently I'm so dehydrated that after drinking 2 of those (and it's a BIG cup) and more water when I got home, I've only had to use the restroom once.  Not a good sign.  So I'm continuing to drinkdrinkdrink in hopes that it gets me back on track.  The super good news is that I've actually eaten twice today and both were legit meals.  This is a big step for me this week. 

And now we're re-packing for another wedding this weekend.  It could be super fun (and I hope it will be).  It could also be the undoing of my road to recovery.  Here's to hoping it's a fun weekend with friends and that I'm feeling even better tomorrow after lots of good sleep tonight.