Sunday, August 24, 2008

cold

I've had a cold for the past 2 weeks. Started out as your normal cold - sore throat, congestion, coughing. It lingered on and every day I just felt worn out.

The Internet can be dangerous. I look up my symptoms on WebMD.com and find out that I could possibly have Tuberculosis, Histoplasmosis or Pneumonitis. Somehow these sound more glamorous and exciting than just having a cold.

Went to the doctor after a week because people at work said, "Maybe you need antibiotics." At the urgent care department, they had signs plastered on every square inch of wall space that said:

Colds are caused by a virus. Antibiotics do NOT work on viruses. Don't even THINK about asking your doctor for antibiotics if you have a cold. We mean it. We'll just roll our eyes and sigh heavily as we point to this sign and say with more than a little disdain in our voice "Duh!"

The doctor had no problem giving me a prescription for cough medicine laced with
narcotics (codeine) which the label said "May be habit forming."

Another week goes by and I am still coughing and my nose won't stop running and I still feel tired every day. Went back to the urgent care place and this time I pinned the doctor on the floor and put him in a headlock and forced him to give me antibiotics. No, I flashed him my winning smile and charmed him with my adorable personality and he gave me antibiotics. The truth is that I had just passed the time limit - if my symptoms hadn't gotten better in 2 weeks, then MAYBE it is bacterial and they can then give me the antibiotics.

Started taking the antibiotics and took the next day off work and I am starting to feel better.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Stupid Cat!!