Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Doctor’s Visit

There are very few things I like less than going to the doctor.  A doctor (and dentist) visit fills me with all kinds of anxiety.  I’m not sure if it’s because as a kid I was ALWAYS at the doctor with allergies, asthma, and ear infections getting shots, and tests, and treatments or if it’s because I worry that I’ll get bad news.  Regardless of where it stems from, other than my regular must-do yearly exams, I avoid the doctor as much as possible. 

Like usually happens about 10 weeks into the new school year,  I came down with a sore throat this week.  It feels like I’ve raked a cheese grater over it.  I didn’t sleep well last night, waking up several times not being able to swallow.  I tossed and turned, knowing it meant I needed to go to the doctor in the morning. 

Begrudgingly, I arrived at Urgent Care about five minutes before they opened this morning.  There were already 3 patients ahead of me. Luckily, I only waited about 20 minutes to be taken into the back.  After the nurse triage I was placed in the small exam room.  This is where I tend to imagine all the things that could be wrong with me, in this case I was sure it was throat cancer. 

The doctor interrupted my nerves for a bit when entering the room, asking me all the same questions the nurse had asked me not 10 minutes before.  After looking at my chart, he commented that my blood pressure looked high.  The doctors always comment on this at the beginning of an exam.  Not because my blood pressure is high, but because I am a nervous wreck at the doctors (or dentist).  I told him I tend to run high at the beginning of the visits, but if he doesn’t tell me I’m going to die, it will be back to normal by the end of the visit.  “Deal,” he said.  Next, he remarked that I didn’t seem to have a high temperature, in fact, it was about a degree and a half below 98.7.  Yes, another oddity, when I’m sick, that temp usually goes down, not up.  Urgent care is so convenient on the weekends,  but since the doctors aren’t the regular ones, they don’t really know a patient’s history.  I wanted to tell him to look at my chart; This is all normal for me. 

After all was said and done, the sore throat isn’t a symptom of an incurable disease, but more likely strep throat – a culture will confirm.  After the antibiotic prescription was written out, the doctor asked to take my blood pressure again. I obliged and smiled somewhat proudly when he said that I was right; my bp was just fine at the end of the visit. 

Since there was no time to take it easy this week, I’m very happy to be drugged up, sitting on the couch, and watching TV (or falling asleep in front it).  Actually, I’m very glad to be anywhere that is not the doctor’s office.

10 comments:

  1. Strep throat!? EEEEEEK. I hope you get well very quickly.

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    1. I hope so too. Our busy last few days haven't helped in my recovery though. After everyone left last night I felt as if someone had torn out my throat. Fingers crossed two days off from talking will help.

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  2. Oh shoot! I hope you feel better quickly! There's nothing worse than being sick during the week...it takes so much time to make plans to be out it is almost worth dragging yoruself to work.

    Me too on the fever front- I know I am very ill when I break 98.6.

    Rest up!!

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    1. I'm out so much for staff development trainings already, being out for an illness is nearly impossible. I was looking forward to being in the classroom all 5 days this coming week, but if I still feel this way come Monday morning, it'll be difficult. Talking is painful right now. But agreed, it's almost easier to just go in than have to write sub plans.

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  3. Bummer. But if one must work in the node point for every infectious disease. Still on a serious note, you need to get yourself some live gut cultures. It seems since a number of studies done since 0-10, the very very best thing you can have for health are those billions of gut bacteria.
    I expect all the same if you weren't doing what you do they wouldn't be so quick to hand over the pills. Gone are the days when medics would toss three at you to see what would work.
    Anywoos, treat yourself well. I'd hug you but you'd probably infect me :-D.

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    1. Ha ha! You're probably right! :)
      I had to look up gut bacteria...I'm going to have to read further to comment with any semblance of understanding.
      But yes, at any point in the day I'm exposed to all sorts of germs. We build up a tolerance to a point. I don't get as sick as I did when I first started teaching, but the new group of kids always brings a new batch of germ exposure I guess.
      I've never liked the "just in case" prescribing of antibiotics, but in this instance I'll do just about anything to get my throat to stop hurting.

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    2. Yeah, lactobacillus and a bunch of other ones. Seems that if they aren't working things go awry very badly indeedy. And the nasty stuff like candida explode in the intestine. This occurs after a course of antibiotics, mostly.

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  4. I am a firm believer in probiotics, and feel that keeping the 'gut bacteria' alive is important to good health. I like to say that since I am so old, I have been exposed to it all, and that is why I have been free of bugs so much lately not so many around to catch that I haven't already had. Actually since retirement, I am not so much out and about any more. I also don't visit folks in the hospital because that is a hot bed of infection. Get well soon.

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    1. Again, I've never heard of such a thing. I'm with you on the hospitals, talk about anxiety!

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