For real?

The novelty of being sick has worn off. Who am I kidding? I was bored at three hours after getting sick. Staying in bed all day is just not my thing. 60 hours after detecting the traces of my sore throat, and I'm sick of being sick.

There's only so much sitting around I can take. And while the temptation of setting up my bike on the trainer, or doing core work on the ball is great, I've thus far resisted the urge(s). The last thing I want to do, is prolong being sick. Yeah, that would really put me in a bad mood.

But it's been quite the adventure, I have to say.

By Sunday morning, I was really concerned about the severity of sinus pain and the symptoms that were rapidly progressing from tolerable to put-me-out-of-my-misery-awful. Waiting until Monday morning to schedule an appointment seemed silly. And I figured that the ER wouldn't be too busy on Superbowl Sunday.

It wasn't.

But that wasn't the problem.

The treating doctor was. After checking me over, noting my symptoms, and listening to my long history of severe sinus infections, my doctor decided that he would treat the symptoms, but NOT the problem. Say what?

In his words, "The literature that I've read states that we do not prescribe medication for a sinus infection. If you were my Mom, I wouldn't give you antibiotics. We'll treat the symptoms. But I won't prescribe antibiotics."

I was in disbelief. Was this guy for real? Apparently he was: and he would rather give his patients percocet (a highly addictive narcotic) for pain, then treat the cause of the illness (bacterial sinus infection).

Super.

Additionally, he gave me every nasal spray, nasal decongestant, motrin, and tylenol on the market. I left the hospital unhappy, sick, and carrying six prescriptions, none of which were the antibiotics needed to treat the infection itself. I did, however (in my pain induced rage) call him a prick. Not something I would typically do, but I was upset. And in pain. And fearful that I would have to get really really sick before being properly treated.

But I don't regret it. Not in the least.

Fast forward to this afternoon when I had my second appointment in just as many days. My primary care doc out here confirmed that I had one, "whopper of a sinus infection." And promptly gave me the right medication to fight the little bacterial buggers.

She was shocked, though, that this particular ER doc was willing to dole out narcotics instead of antibiotics. Yeah, that made three of us (Nate was horrified as well).

At this point, I'm just happy that I've got the necessary tools to get well. Treating the symptoms is important. But getting to the root cause of the ailment was key.

So true of life, I suppose.

Just like you can't fix a problem if you only treat the symptoms. You need to figure out the root cause, determine what is causing the issues, and go from there. And sometimes, it takes a little patience and persistence to do just that.

In the mean time, I'm still on strict rest. Nathaniel is making endless cups of tea, and the kitties are on their best behavior. I swear that my bike is calling my name, enticing me to hop on for a few minutes here or there... But I won't cave in.

I'll endure the abysmal daytime TV, paperback novels, and trips to the bathroom. And hopefully (fingers crossed with a cherry on top), in a few days I'll start to feel better. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to give myself another spritz of nasal spray. Fun times on a Monday night! I'll spare you the details. No need to thank me. But some good vibes would do wonders!