Diagnosis Unknown

If you read my previous blog, you know that I stayed home sick Tuesday afternoon. I woke up this morning with my sore throat feeling much worse than the previous day. I looked at my tonsils in the mirror, and I had a huge pus pocket on my right tonsil. I knew it was strep. The doctor didn't open until 8:00am, so when 8:00 came around, I called and made an appointment. I stayed all morning at work cuddled up in my UT zip front hoodie. It wasn't near warm enough, so when I didn't have any work to do, I cuddled up in the leather desk chair. I tried to stay away from everyone else so that I wouldn't infect them.

Finally, it was time to get off work. I had an hour before my appointment, so I took a cat nap in my car. When I got into the exam room, the nurse took my vitals, then said she'd look at my throat and if it was bad enough, she'd swab it for a strep test. I opened my mouth for her to look; she stepped backwards and made a face as soon as the light hit my tonsils. Then she looked again and said, "I don't even know how you're swallowing!" She brought the swab into the room and proceeded to tell me that I had a HUGE pus pocket on my right tonsil. She asked if I could eat, which I said I could. (Once I start eating, the food kind of scratches the tonsils in a good way and they don't hurt, so eating was a freedom for me, though I couldn't do it often because I'm constantly nauseous.)

The doctor came in and told me that the strep test came back negative, but when she looked at my throat she said that she thought what I have is strep. She took another swab (OUCH!!!) and said that she'd get the results from the bacterial culture she just took in three days. She said that she also thought that I might have mono. The second time a doctor thought that in two months. She said that the mono test will not show positive, even if you have mono, until you're sick for a while. She told me that if I'm not completely better in seven days, I should come back in and she'll run a mono test.

In three days (Monday is my guess, which would make it five days), I find out if the bacterial culture comes out positive for strep. In seven days, I could be diagnosed with mono. Insert expletive here.

The worst part is, my fiance is coming in town this weekend, and I cannot kiss him. The man I love with all my heart, whom I haven't seen in three weeks, I cannot kiss. Well, let me be honest. The doctor said that I can kiss him on the cheek, as long as he washes his cheek immediately afterwards. Grr. I feel like my weekend is ruined.

Friday night is Josh's cul-de-sac's Halloween party, which I will still go to, but will keep my distance. Saturday I work from 7:30-12 (possibly 2 thanks to our new hours, which is fine), then Josh and I have a hair appointment at 2:30. Saturday evening and Sunday are both free, which is a good thing because I'll be running way too much this weekend. I still feel bad about being sick, but Josh says it's not my fault so I shouldn't worry about it. I'm sure he'll still make a great weekend out of it...he usually does.

So when I'm still at the doctor's office, the doctor tells me to stay home from work tomorrow and rest. Insert another expletive here. This will make day number six of sick days, if my memory serves me, and we're only allowed three sick days in a 365 day period. I don't think that's reasonable, but that's my opinion. Anyhoo, I make sure to take my doctor's note back to work and set it on my boss's desk. I called her, at the advice from another coworker, and tell her the story. Her response was a sigh and a pause. She then said, "You need to watch your hours because you're dangerously close to losing your full-time status." She then complained because there weren't many people who are willing to cover for me, but that she would make it work. Then she hung up. Gee, boss, thanks for caring about my health.

I have resolved that if I do have mono, I will ask her if she is going to fire me or if I should just quit. The reason I will ask her this is because I very seriously doubt that she would put up with me not being able to work for that long of a time. With mono, there is a two week minimum period where you literally sleep for 20 hours out of the day. This means missing two weeks of work, minimum. I REALLY hope that I don't have mono because it would financially destroy me. With all of the bills I have to pay, I need the paycheck that I'm getting. Anyway, another rant for another day.

I'm going to go eat some dinner and sleep some more. I will definitely keep you updated.