10:55 a.m. - 2008-02-15
my morning
So for the past two weeks or so I have had this migrating cold. You know, stuffy nose, then sore throat, then cough, then headache, then sinuses. A couple of days ago it seemed like it had finally gotten better. Last night we went out to a very nice Valentines Day dinner with our friends, and afterwards when we got home, I had a mild sore throat. I thought, oh great - is this stupid cold back again? It was only on one side of my throat though - like fairly clearly having to do with one tonsil. So I had some water and I went to bed.
At 7am this morning, I woke up feeling like I had a knife in the right side of the inside of my throat and through my right ear canal. I woke Kevin up but I couldn't talk above a whisper - it was excruciating. It even hurt to breathe air past my throat. I took 4 Ibuprofen and tried to go back to sleep. It did not get any better. We got up and Kevin went on the Internet and found one of those CVS pharmacy Minute Clinics. We got in the car and were the first people there when it opened. The nurse practitioner examined me and asked me all of the usual questions about allergies, medical history, etc. At first she didn't see anything when she looked in my mouth. She started to say "Well, it's not swollen - I think you just have a mild sore throat from that cold you've been having...just drink fluids." I cut her off and was like "No, listen. This is totally different than a normal sore throat." She says "Well let me look again." She looks and this time kind of pulls my right tonsil back to look behind it and she exclaims "OH! OK. Wow. Umm, I can't treat you here. We can't deal with this here. You'll have to go to an Urgicare facility or the emergency room."
"What is it?" I ask. She says "I think you may have a peritonsil abcess."
So we get back in the car and go to an Urgicare facility about 5 miles away. At this point, the ibuprofin has kicked in and taken the edge off a bit so I can at least talk above a whisper now. We arrive, do paperwork and wait for about 40 minutes. They call me back. I go back and sit in the exam room. I am now freaked out. They had taken my blood pressure at the first place back when I thought I had a strep throat or something normalish and it was 130/70 (normal). They take it at this place and now it's 143/90 (high). The doctor comes in and he's this Italian, Rico Suave kind of dude. He knocks and opens the door and he sings...yes, SINGS my name "Jessssi...Maaaarsh! Do doo do doo!" I'm like "hi.'
He looks at my throat and feels along the outside and looks in my ear and he goes, "Well, we'll need to give you antibiotics, a shot of steroids and a prescription for oral steroids." If it's not better in 2-3 days you will need to go to the hospital, go under general anestesia and have it lanced."
So he leaves and sends in "Mike" who has a large syringe and tells me to drop my drawers. Mike gives me a shot of steroids in my butt and says "You'll feel a little pinch....aaaand...some burning..." Yes, it pinched and then burned. Now it hurts like a sore muscle.
We go to the pharmacy and get my prescriptions filled and now I am on antibiotics, oral steroids and...butt steroids?
