16 November 1999

Rock Bottom

Nothing quite like a good 3-4 day long fever to make you re-examine your priorities. This has just been awful dealing with this mess. Tired all the time from fighting off the fever, taking way too much aspirin, etc., etc. I hate being sick on the best of days and this, of course, not the best of days. The fever follows on the heels of a wild week, one which saw me out Wednesday through Saturday of the previous week at various establishments, all involving alcohol to one degree or another (tequila Wednesday - *shudder*, bourbon the rest). The good news is I got a good workout in last Friday at the gym, having them teach me stretches and the like to strengthen my back and take care of that mess. Get to pick up the bed tomorrow (hooray!) and get the new mattress set up, so that should help as well.

Hopefully I'll get a tad better at maintaining this thing, too. I like the ability to go back and look at my thoughts on a given day or topic, it helps to refresh the memory.

19 November 1999

Whine and Cheese

Well, what I thought would be a day or two off has turned into a good week off from work. And today is the typical American adult male "I'm turning into a whiny 3 year old because I'm sick and I can't handle it" stage of illness. ;-) Called the doctor on Tuesday after my fever spiked at 103.6 Monday night (thankfully when Jon was here after bringing me medicine - he's a saint at times), described the symptoms (white patches on the throat, swollen lymph nodes, fever, etc.) and he gave me an antibiotic for it, which is now on day 3 of 10. Whee! As I've said before, I hate taking drugs on the best of days and this is certainly not the best of days. Also taking 600 mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours (who needs a stomach, anyway?).

I hate being sick. Looks like I get to miss the entire week of work for this mess, too.

23 November 1999

Mononucleosis?

LOL! Looks like I judged that I dodged the mono bullet prematurely. The symptoms which looked last week as if they were classic strep throat are also the same as classic mono, and since I know I was exposed to it a good two months ago, it appears I did indeed catch it. Drat. Ah well, what can one do but rest at this point? I did go get blood drawn (when on day 8 of antibiotics and I still was getting a temp. of 100.9 at the health unit this afternoon, that's a good sign that all is not as it had appeared last week) for another mono test at the doctor's office.

Coming home last night from the grocery store and crashing on the bed at 8:30 was another good indicator, too. ;-) Took a good nap this afternoon when I got home at 5 as well. Felt great to sleep for a bit, let me tell you!

Didn't mean for this to be the diary of my health, but I suppose that's what it's become, at least for the nonce. I suspect had the week before last not been quite so draining I'd not have been hit quite so hard with this mess the past week and a half. Lessons learned I suppose. So now I shall take it easy and rest up in order to get over this and get myself back into the gym.

24 November 1999

Mass Transit

There are people in this world, according to my roommate, who have a disease known as the 'dropsies.' This basically means that they tend to 'lose' things all over their given living/working areas by misplacing them. I have a new, similar disease to add to the dropsies family and it's one that's unique to mass transit, the 'bagsies.' This is for people who tend to sit on mass transit and promptly drop their bag, satchel, etc. on the seat beside them, thereby blocking it until one comes up and politely asks them to kindly remove the offending item. Most people with the bagsies are pretty good about removing the offending items so the asking party can get some much needed relief by sitting, and there are even those with the good graces to look embarrassed at having inconvenienced their fellow passenger.

In addition, I think bus drivers in DC must not be able to see anyone under 6' tall who comes last in line up to the bus. Twice now I've had bus drivers try to close the doors on me as I tried to gain entry to the vehicle. Now, I fully realize that at 5'6" I'm not the largest person in the world, and that it might be easy not to see me, but don't you think they'd want to make sure there were no more people before shutting the doors on someone? One driver even had the nerve to fuss at me, telling me not to block the doors with my arms (I politely pointed out that I was halfway in the door when he closed it on me - he didn't seem to buy that). Not that most drivers are like this. I have found the mass transit workers (both bus and Metro) to be extremely helpful and polite most days, and I'm very satisfied with the level of service I receive from them. Just wish they'd not try to squish me in the doors. :)

P.S.: No test results today, so it looks like I'll have to wait until Monday to hear for sure. Whee!

26 November 1999

Hockey!

I never thought I would ever get into organized sports, but the hockey game at the MCI Center tonight was just plain cool! Capitols versus the Predators. The game pace was fast enough to keep my attention, only three periods so over soon enough not to lose my attention and pretty straightforward, so understandable at first glance. I despise football; never have liked the sport. Soccer is good, I understand it, having played it in rec leagues all the time growing up.

Part of the liking may have been that Brian G. and I had awesome seats (club level, about 1/3 of the way from the end of the rink) and access to the "Capitol Club" for dinner. Very sweet. I could get used to that.

29 November 1999

Mono!

Well, my fears (expectations?) were confirmed this morning. The doctor called me first thing when I got into work to let me know it was indeed mono. Oh well, didn't dodge the bullet after all. Just means a lot of rest and no drinking and no late nights. Just in time for the holiday party season. A good excuse to stay in, though. Just wish I had more energy when I do stay in!

Thanksgiving was fun. Went to a friend's house for it, celebrated with my roomie and my fellow interns. Tons of food (potlucks are great, especially when they have a theme like "thanksgiving" to follow!). Made a lovely pecan pie, which was much appreciated by my proper southern hostess. Not bad for a first attempt at the thing, I do have to say, though the crust died on me (disintegrated as I attempted to take it off the paper post-freezing). Thank heavens for frozen pie crusts! Ha!