Strep!!

Back around my junior year of high school, I had spent about 8 weeks sick. Not the same sick. One thing would go, and I would catch another. I was usually sick a lot in the winters, but this was just plain crazy!! I don’t remember how many doctor visits there were, I really wasn’t extremely sick, it was just a bunch of colds and such, but I stayed sick for so long, it became a doctor issue. After lots of questions and tests, the diagnosis went something like this:

A person’s immune system fully develops by the time they are 8. I lived in Southern California until I was 8. My immune system developed in the absence of cold weather. So, it breaks down when the weather gets cold. You may know that the old wives tale of “bundle up in the cold or you will get sick” isn’t entirely true. The cold doesn’t make you sick, but it does make it harder for your immune system to work, making it easier for you to get sick. So, in my case, when the weather turns cold, my immune system is pretty shotty. The doctor told us we had 2 options. 1) Move somewhere where it doesn’t get cold. 2) Take a lot of Vitamin C when the weather turns and learn to deal with being sick a lot. We went with 2.

At this point in my life, I am basically used to being sick for a good part of the fall and winter. It does seem that around January, things start to lighten up. Maybe by then I have caught everything there is to catch for the season, and so what little immune system I have is able to keep me from re~catching the same things again? Who knows. I do have to break in new people when they arrive in my life. I have to train them to ignore that I am sick. I usually just do what I can to kick whatever I have, and otherwise I ignore it as well. It’s just part of winter to me.

I wanted to share this with you, because I do get sick a lot, and even though I don’t tell you every time that I am sick, I do mention it when I write some of my posts that are about my family and myself, and sometimes it does cause me to take some unplanned breaks. I thought I may as well share why I am sick so often in the winter, because, well, sometimes I just tend to overshare! 🙂

Anyway, because of this, I tend to be one of those people who doesn’t go to the doctor until things are pretty serious. Sometimes I tend to wait longer than I really should. On Saturday I woke up with a sore throat. I am sick often enough to know that a sore throat that accompanies something that does not need doctor treatment only lasts as few days, and/or is just sore, not extremely painful. Well, this one kept getting worse, and yesterday my right ear started hurting as well. So, this morning, after dropping the girls off at school, I stopped by my doctor’s office.

I walked up to the front desk and told the ladies there my problem. They said this was a late hours day for the doctor, so he wouldn’t be in until 2. I asked if one of the nurses could do a strep test, and if it was positive then the doctor could just call in my script, but if it was negative, then I could schedule an appointment for after school. Thankfully they took pity on my sad little self (I could barely whisper) and one of them took me into an exam room for a strep culture. When I opened my mouth she said, “Wow, that sure does look like strep!” Yup, feels like it too.

Thankfully, my doctor’s office has a lab, so they could run the test right there. She came back a few minutes later to say that it was positive and they would have the doctor call in some antibiotics to my pharmacy.

I really love my doctor and his staff. And my insurance.

So, I have started my antibiotics and I plan on being back to me in a couple days! It’s such a nice feeling to know I am going to start feeling better.

Oh, my pharmacy happens to be in a grocery store. Did you know that a lot of online medical sites recommend ice cream to help relieve the pain of strep throat? Who am I to argue with the internet?

Pin

And…while I was there I saw something that would bring some joy to a friend who is stationed abroad. So now I am going to have to stop at the post office this week.

Pin

I’ll leave you with this adorable picture of Kyla and Frankie (her toy monster).

Pin

©Copyright 2014 Jessie Rayot / Jessie At Home All my videos, patterns and posts are my own work. Do not copy them in any way. If you want to share this information with someone, share the link to this post. If you want to share on your own blog / website, then you may use the first photo in this post and link back to this post. You may not give away printed copies of this post. Thank you.

This post may contain affiliate links/ads. If you purchase something from a link in this post, I may be compensated.