Double Whammy

Tuesday night while I was at work, I started feeling really badly at about 2 AM. So badly, in fact, that my dear sweet friend Cristy let me leave at about 5 AM so I could go to bed. I had a low grade fever, chills, aches, and a cough that made my chest really sore. I figured I probably had the flu, so I planned on just spending as much time in bed as I could over the next day or so, and hopefully feeling better by today, so I could work tonight. Then, Wednesday night, during one of the times I was awake with aches and chills, praying for the ibuprofen to hurry up, I noticed how sore my throat was. I mentioned it to Phil the next morning, and he suggested I should probably take a trip to the doctor's office. Now, as a nurse, I really hate going to the doctor. I prefer to self-diagnose and then ask the various physicians I am friendly with at work to help me out with prescriptions when they are warranted. So far, this has worked out just fine. However, I really needed some drugs before I would be at work again, so to the doctor I went. Well, sure enough, I tested positive for Influenza A, which is bad enough. But then when he examined me, he found pus on my right tonsil. You betcha, strep throat too! No wonder I felt like c-r-a-p. Off I headed to the pharmacy, to get my FIVE scrips filled--my Tamiflu, Phil's prophylactic Tamiflu, my cough syrup, my antibiotic, and my Nexium (totally unrelated to my current illness). $200 and nearly an hour later, I went home and holed up in our bedroom, where I still am. I am beginning to feel a little better, but that makes me more irritated by the lack of good TV on during the day. Fortunately, I got the good cough syrup with hydrocodone in it, so at least I can be a little bit stoned while I vegetate. I am also fortunate to have a wonderful husband who has jumped into the role of "single parent" with ease. I feel a bit guilty about him having to ride herd on the kiddos alone, but I guess it is better than the alternative of riding herd on sick kiddos. We are also fortunate that this hit now instead of 2 weeks from now. I should be back to 100% long before we leave for the cruise. And, God willing, Phil's prophylactic drugs will be effective and he won't get sick at all.