Ignore It and It'll Go Away

My personal edict for life didn't work out so well for this week. Strange, it got me through many things including a one-yr Exec stint.

Last week I had a little pinch in my left side that came and went. Hmm. I'll just ignore it and take Motrin. Hmm, I've been taking Motrin several times a day for a few days now. No worries, I'll just take more. By Friday night I was in some pain that the Motrin and Tylenol weren't combating as effectively. Saturday afternoon I was completely incapacitated with pain in my lower back. I spent the day writhing in my bed taking every over-the-counter pill I had in the house. I called my mom whining and she told me to go get some cranberry juice because it sounded like an infection. She also wanted me to go to a German hospital, a step I was not willing to take.

Sunday, I had the cold sweats but had a dinner engagement I could not miss. I took a bunch of Tylenol and went to dinner and drank a couple beers and had some more Tylenol. Spent the night shivering and burning up. Monday morning I quit taking Tylenol so that when I went to the doctor I would have all my symptoms.

Sick call is where my misery really starts. I got little sleep and left my apartment right after Sam got on the bus at 0730. I signed in at 0800 and sat there for an hour before the triage nurse saw me. I was still feeling okay at this point. I see the triage nurse and she orders a urine specimen. Then I get to sit at the lab and wait and wait. I get that taken care of and return to the waiting room to be seen by a doctor. Oprah has come and gone. Finally, I get to see a German doctor who talks to me for a few mins and proceeds to start thumping on my back... you know, because I'm complaining of back pain. I let out a mighty scream when she hits my left side. She goes to order a urinanalysis and I tell her I've already been to the lab. "Oh, let's see if the results are in. Oh my, you were right. This isn't normal back pain, you've got all kinds of things in your urine." That's always good news. "You've got a kidney infection." By this time the pain has returned and I'm miserable. I asked how you get a kidney infection and she started listing all sorts of things. Apparently, a light bulb went off when she was talking about young women who first become sexually active (no bulb yet) because there's a lot of irritation and swelling (ding!). It was funny because it must have shown on my face. As soon as she said that and saw my face she ordered a pregnancy test! Too funny. She also decided she needed to have blood drawn so she could adjust the dosage of antibiotics.

Back to the lab to sit and wait. Got my blood drawn. Back to the waiting room to sit and wait for results. By this time, I'm shivering and in significant pain. I get some Army Specialist (that's his rank, he wasn't a specialist in medicine) to pull the results after about 25 mins and they're still not in. I beg him to do something so I can get out of the purgatory waiting room. He takes me back to see the dr and she said my blood count was so high that it indicated the infection wasn't isolated to the kidney anymore, it was in my blood stream. She gave me 2 days worth of quarters (I'm at work anyway) and gave me a prescription and said I needed a follow up on Friday. I stopped by the appt desk and they said I'd have to come in for sick call Friday, there weren't any appts. Aargh! Please, I work mids from 1730 to 0600 and I've been here over 4 hrs when I should be sleeping. They took down my info and I have nothing but complete confidence I'll get a phone call Friday with an appt. Yeah, right.

Now off to the pharmacy to sit and wait and try not to cry in front of everyone while the pharmacy techs f*ck around when I'm standing at the window. Sit and wait, sit and wait. Get my medicine get in my car and let out a big sob because it hurts so bad.

Little Sam was such a good little guy though. He kept rubbing my back for me, I didn't tell him it had no effect. I just let his little hand move up and down my back, there's something about his innocent face and little hand rubbing me. He'd run and get me tissues and stuff too. Such a sweet boy that I don't deserve.