Strep Throat
Well, friends, I woke up on Wednesday with a serious case of the Ickies. I thought at first it might be the flu, what with all of the achiness, fatigue, fever, lightheadedness, sore throat...a pretty impressive list of symptoms. Everything was present but the tummy troubles, which finally appeared out of the blue, just as I was telling the doctor I didn't have them. He diagnosed me with strep throat, and in the next second, I lunged for the Biohazard bin. I felt slightly ashamed at this, although it is just now occurring to me that I don't like appearing "umprofessional" in front of the doctor. Puking is...definitely unprofessional. This feeling strikes me as odd.
I haven't eaten much for the past two days. I am dehydrated, pale (I totally just spelled that "pail"), and I had a toxic Tylenol sweat happening. I haven't even bothered to wash my hair, but I was concerned about the doctor witnessing all of this.
Anyway, strep throat seemed like such a pedestrian, grade-school disease before. I must have had it a dozen times as a kid. But it's made me pretty miserable over the past few days, so, Congratulations, Strep; you win. Never again will I underestimate your mighty powers.
But hey, you know what's worse than Strep Throat?
Tricare.
Tricare is great at covering what ails you. Not so great at getting you there to cure it. My current Primary Care Manager (assigned General Practitioner) is located in Swansea. I do not even know where Swansea is! I think I've passed it, on the way to Georgia, but that's a twelve-hour trip.
The Tricare lady was nice enough to give me his number, but he doesn't handle my symptoms. He specializes in joint and muscle ache. That...doesn't sound very general to me. They give me some more doctors, one of whom couldn't see me until March, and the other...well, he is the Super Cool Doctor who had the privilege of seeing me puke. We've bonded.
I think I'm actually going to continue seeing this doctor on the sly, and just kind of forget about Dr. Joint and Muscle Ache.
But the point of this story, friends? Strep throat didn't make me cry. My insurance company did.
I haven't eaten much for the past two days. I am dehydrated, pale (I totally just spelled that "pail"), and I had a toxic Tylenol sweat happening. I haven't even bothered to wash my hair, but I was concerned about the doctor witnessing all of this.
Anyway, strep throat seemed like such a pedestrian, grade-school disease before. I must have had it a dozen times as a kid. But it's made me pretty miserable over the past few days, so, Congratulations, Strep; you win. Never again will I underestimate your mighty powers.
But hey, you know what's worse than Strep Throat?
Tricare.
Tricare is great at covering what ails you. Not so great at getting you there to cure it. My current Primary Care Manager (assigned General Practitioner) is located in Swansea. I do not even know where Swansea is! I think I've passed it, on the way to Georgia, but that's a twelve-hour trip.
The Tricare lady was nice enough to give me his number, but he doesn't handle my symptoms. He specializes in joint and muscle ache. That...doesn't sound very general to me. They give me some more doctors, one of whom couldn't see me until March, and the other...well, he is the Super Cool Doctor who had the privilege of seeing me puke. We've bonded.
I think I'm actually going to continue seeing this doctor on the sly, and just kind of forget about Dr. Joint and Muscle Ache.
But the point of this story, friends? Strep throat didn't make me cry. My insurance company did.