My first bout with Strep.
Wow...what a crazy ill weekend. Ill in the literal sense: I was seriously ill. For anyone who has my Facebook, you probably saw the fairly regular updates. Otherwise, here's the rundown:
Wednesday, I wasn't feeling particularly well. I asked around at work to see if someone would cover the last couple hours of my shift, so I could go home and rest up, hopefully feel better. Nobody could.
Thursday morning, I felt worse. I called in to work, hoping that a day of rest would clear off whatever it was I had. Tom seemed to be feeling under the weather too, mostly just cold symptoms, so I figured that's probably what I had too, although my neck was kinda tender and my lymph nodes were swollen, which he didn't have. Unfortunately, a situation with the family of one of my coworkers necessitated my return to work for a few hours on Thursday. Thursday evening, Kelsey and Gabe came over for RiffTraxx. By the end of the night, I knew I had a fever, but not how much, since Tom didn't have a thermometer.
Friday, I woke up feeling definitely under the weather. I called in to work and spent the day on the couch, drinking tea, TheraFlu, water, and orange juice. Friday night, I was definitely the worse for wear and the lymph node on the right side of my neck was very sore and swollen. My whole body hurt. Tom had picked up a thermometer that day, and I found out my fever was peaking around 103.5 F.
Friday night, I broke my fever. Saturday, it came right back, accompanied by swelling in the right gland so fierce I could barely swallow. I broke my fever twice more on Saturday, and it just came back both times. Every part of my was just...ow. My neck especially.
Sunday, I went to Urgent Care. They told me it looked like Strep. They took a throat culture that came back negative, but since it was a quick test and the look of my throat said "strep", they prescribed me Penicillin anyway. I started taking it, called my boss and told her about the doctor's instructions not to go to work on Monday, broke my fever twice more, and went to bed feeling a little better.
This morning, I woke up without a fever...thank goodness. The aching was gone. The penicillin seems to be working. The swelling in my neck has gone down somewhat, to the point where I can eat solid food and drink things besides ice water. Now I have head congestion, which sucks, but I'll take that over crazy fever and swollen neck glands any day! I have to take the penicillin three times a day for 9 more days just to be sure.
So yeah....ugh. Cruddy weekend, eh?
Funny part is, being this sick could be, and usually is, the worst kind of time for couples. In some ways, this was one of the best times I've had with Tom. He's been so attentive, and caring, and supportive, without once being smothering or bothersome. He knew when I needed him there, and he understood when I needed to be by myself. He let me stubbornly do those things I felt the need to do (like get up and walk around when I couldn't stand laying down anymore) without a second thought, because well...if I didn't think I could do it then I wouldn't do it, right? We watched TV and movies, talked, ate when we could, got each other tea and juice; he took care of me like a friend and a boyfriend both. And at the end of it all, he wants me to spend one more night here as a sort of "end of the vacation" night. The weird part is that I can sort of see what he means by this being some sort of messed-up vacation. Other than me feeling like absolute crap and him being worried about me, it has sorta been like a vacation; just one during which we did a bunch of nothing. Hehe.
I'm really looking forward to doing this trip to Iowa this weekend :) Getting to go down there with both Tom and Gabe? It's like...my perfect road trip!
Wednesday, I wasn't feeling particularly well. I asked around at work to see if someone would cover the last couple hours of my shift, so I could go home and rest up, hopefully feel better. Nobody could.
Thursday morning, I felt worse. I called in to work, hoping that a day of rest would clear off whatever it was I had. Tom seemed to be feeling under the weather too, mostly just cold symptoms, so I figured that's probably what I had too, although my neck was kinda tender and my lymph nodes were swollen, which he didn't have. Unfortunately, a situation with the family of one of my coworkers necessitated my return to work for a few hours on Thursday. Thursday evening, Kelsey and Gabe came over for RiffTraxx. By the end of the night, I knew I had a fever, but not how much, since Tom didn't have a thermometer.
Friday, I woke up feeling definitely under the weather. I called in to work and spent the day on the couch, drinking tea, TheraFlu, water, and orange juice. Friday night, I was definitely the worse for wear and the lymph node on the right side of my neck was very sore and swollen. My whole body hurt. Tom had picked up a thermometer that day, and I found out my fever was peaking around 103.5 F.
Friday night, I broke my fever. Saturday, it came right back, accompanied by swelling in the right gland so fierce I could barely swallow. I broke my fever twice more on Saturday, and it just came back both times. Every part of my was just...ow. My neck especially.
Sunday, I went to Urgent Care. They told me it looked like Strep. They took a throat culture that came back negative, but since it was a quick test and the look of my throat said "strep", they prescribed me Penicillin anyway. I started taking it, called my boss and told her about the doctor's instructions not to go to work on Monday, broke my fever twice more, and went to bed feeling a little better.
This morning, I woke up without a fever...thank goodness. The aching was gone. The penicillin seems to be working. The swelling in my neck has gone down somewhat, to the point where I can eat solid food and drink things besides ice water. Now I have head congestion, which sucks, but I'll take that over crazy fever and swollen neck glands any day! I have to take the penicillin three times a day for 9 more days just to be sure.
So yeah....ugh. Cruddy weekend, eh?
Funny part is, being this sick could be, and usually is, the worst kind of time for couples. In some ways, this was one of the best times I've had with Tom. He's been so attentive, and caring, and supportive, without once being smothering or bothersome. He knew when I needed him there, and he understood when I needed to be by myself. He let me stubbornly do those things I felt the need to do (like get up and walk around when I couldn't stand laying down anymore) without a second thought, because well...if I didn't think I could do it then I wouldn't do it, right? We watched TV and movies, talked, ate when we could, got each other tea and juice; he took care of me like a friend and a boyfriend both. And at the end of it all, he wants me to spend one more night here as a sort of "end of the vacation" night. The weird part is that I can sort of see what he means by this being some sort of messed-up vacation. Other than me feeling like absolute crap and him being worried about me, it has sorta been like a vacation; just one during which we did a bunch of nothing. Hehe.
I'm really looking forward to doing this trip to Iowa this weekend :) Getting to go down there with both Tom and Gabe? It's like...my perfect road trip!