Hypochondriacs Don't Deal Well With Sickness

A few weeks ago (I will be honest, I can't remember. It could have been two, or it might have been three) I woke up with a sore throat. The sore throat went away, but then turned into a cough. The cough stuck around for a couple of weeks as is typical for me (I don't deal with coughs very well, and they love to linger). As a lovely side effect, my voice also went, which was just FABULOUS since I teach for a living and, well, let's face it: teaching requires being able to talk.

I literally got rid of this last Monday and was giving myself a pat on the back, because generally I get the one case of bronchitis a year and that's it -- I am pretty much done with the sickness thing. But Friday I found out that my theory was WRONG, and in fact, I got something a little different than the typical cough.

So, yeah, Friday. I woke up with a sore throat, and thought NOTHING of it. I have sinuses alot (did you want to know this much about my secretions?) so I figured after a few hours it would go away. Except, it didn't. It got WORSE. I am at work, drinking water is killing me, luckily I am testing my kids so no talking is required, but I realize something: I FEEL LIKE CRAP!

I manage to sneak in a few naps during my off periods, and by 7th period I am done. Finito. I officially am admitting defeat. I know I don't have a temperature, because the school nurse took it for me, but my mom has successfully convinced me to go see the doctor (ahem... the feeling of swallowing GLASS is really more convincing than my mom, actually).  

And oh, the doctor? I hate the doctor. I hate anything connected with doctors. They make me nervous, and, well, I am a pessimist when it comes to my health. Sore throat? Swollen glands? OMG I MUST HAVE SOME AWFUL RARE DISEASE THAT IS GOING TO KILL ME. Trust me on this. I was armed with info from WebMD and a good helping of Overreaction, two very dangerous combinations. I was convincing myself that I could have mono on the way to the doctor. And when that threw me into a panic attack, I talked myself back down to sinuses. Don't be silly, I told myself. Sinuses! Tonsillitis at worse. Wait, tonsillitis? I panicked, does that require the tonsils to come out?!

To make a long story short... they of course did a strep test, which sucks, because having a giant Q-Tip shoved down your throat is not pleasant in the least. And of course I tested positive.  And I was given a choice: shot of penicillin or 10 days of Amoxicillin. And this is where I get PROUD, because did I cop out and take the pills?

NOPE! I took the shot like a man (erm... woman) and limped out of there relieved, because Mono? PSHAW! It's just strep throat! I knew it wasn't anything serious, all along.