SICK or Hoepless Bleak Despair

So I woke up yesterday all shaky and sweaty and nauseous. I couldn't even drink my coffee, it was that bad. I might have had a hangover, if I'd had anything to drink the night before (which I hadn't). With my 5:50 leave for work deadline rapidly approaching, I took my temperature with the trusty old mercury thermometer. I work with food, and the food code says I can't work if I'm vomiting, have diarrhea, or a fever. So far I hadn't puked, and no explosive bowels either, so a fever was the last viable excuse, and it turns out I didn't have one of those either - although it sure felt like it. I went to work anyway. By the time I got there I had sweat through my t-shirt (but I wear wool sweaters and they are magical, even warmer when they're wet) and was simultaneously freezing. Oh well, time to make the doughnuts, as they say.

I have been sick since before Thanksgiving, the runny nose, coughing kind of sick. But I figured it was just a sinus infection, it would run it's course eventually. I HATE going to the doctor, especially I hate getting antibiotics just because they give them to everybody for everything and there is nothing they can do to help the common cold AT ALL. But yesterday after work, I felt like, since I survived, I ought to go to the doctor and find out what was wrong with me. So I did.

The nurse took my vitals, I told her I was nauseous and shaky and exhausted. She duly wrote it all down. The doctor came in and looked into my ears, listened to me breathe, told me I probably had a sinus infection and wrote me a prescription for a Z-Pak (hideously expensive antibiotics, they're all the rage this cold and flu season). This all took less than 5 minutes. I should have pressed the doctor, asked him why a sinus infection would make me feel like I was pregnant (which I am not, BTW just sos you know, and which nobody even bothered to ask), but he hightailed it out of there as fast as he could, he moved so fast the breeze blew the prescription off the desk. The waiting room wasn't even crowded! Maybe I had really bad breath?

Anyway, later that evening, I talked to my mom on the phone, and she suggested that I take off from work. She said I needed to rest. She said I would just make everyone in Morgantown sick if I kept going to work sick (I started feeling guilty, although if I was going to make anyone sick they'd probably be sick already anyway!). So I caved and called my boss, saying that I was going to stay home. Which I did.

Staying home when I am sick is possibly worse than going to work sick. At least at work I have goals, I have things to finish. Home sick I just wander around aimlessly feeling like crap. I did sleep for 12 hours, then I got up and did some laundry. Eventually I forced myself to eat a peanut butter sandwich because I've been sick for three weeks and haven't been to the grocery store and there was nothing else to eat... But at least I didn't puke it up. Keith thinks the nausea may be caused by an inner ear disturbance due to my sinus infection. I think it may be caused by all the phlegm that's running down the back of my throat all the goddamned day long. Well, I'm eating the mega-antibiotics now, so all of that can go away now please. I sent my boss a text message saying that I'd be at work tomorrow come hell or high water. If I have to stay home feeling crappy and useless any longer I'm going to start banging my head against the proverbial wall. Oh, and did I mention being sick makes me feel grumpy too?