Hostile Takeover

Friday when I woke up, my throat was a bit sore. I didn't think much of it; we had been out on Bourbon street the night before, so I inhaled a lot of secondhand smoke and had to yell in order to be heard over the sound of drunks and transvestites. However, it got progressively worse throughout the day and when I got off of the plane in Charlotte, for my weekend at home, I was in substantial pain.

Although my throat was sore, I didn't feel bad in any other way. I wasn't stuffy or anything. So I didn't think much of it. But when I tried to go to bed Friday night, I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep. I can ALWAYS sleep. I love sleep. I slept maybe an hour, and then at 5 I gave up and got on the computer to find out what time the Urgent Care office opens on Saturdays. I assumed I had strep throat.

I attempted to go back to sleep but couldn't, and at 7:30 I headed to the doctor. And of course, it's not strep throat, because that has a simple cure. It's an upper respiratory infection, which is a virus, and thus has no available antibiotic to make it disappear. Great. They gave me a prescription for a cough syrup (spoiler alert: it didn't work at all), and I left. It was almost like being sent home from Student Health with a bottle of Magic Mouthwash.

I drank a lot of tea and gargled with salt water, and my throat started to feel better Saturday night. But of course, at this point, the congestion started. I made a brief appearance at the Rock Band party that AJ and Tim and I had been planning all week (quick note: Tim made cookies for the party. True story). I didn't do much rocking or talking, but I enjoyed the spectacle. And then I went home and couldn't sleep AGAIN, this time because of the coughing. After attempting to sleep for 3 hours using my prescription "cough syrup," I popped an Aleve Cold & Sinus (read: OTC crack) and was able to sleep for a few 20 minute bouts between coughing fits.

If you know me at all, you know how I am generally unable to function when I've had less than 7 hours of sleep for more than two nights in a row. Also, you probably know how pissed off I am that this illness is putting a damper on my workout routine. And bonus: I "got" to fly back to New Orleans Sunday night.

I cannot explain to you how unpleasant a flight is when you have extreme chest and head congestion. Oh my god. First of all, I packed cough drops and tissues of course, but I feel really bad for the lady sitting next to me, because she probably thought "this crazy nose-blowing girl is giving me the plague." And I probably was. The decent into New Orleans was the worst. I could NOT stop coughing. Bonus: my right ear has still not popped, so I only currently have partial hearing abilities. I had coughing fits for the first two hours I tried to sleep last night, but then I was able to sleep almost uninterrupted for 6 whole hours, so I was actually thrilled.

Today I was fine at work (despite a few coughing fits) until 5 and then all of the lack of sleep from the weekend kicked in and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. My original plan to go to the gym after work and do a slow simple walk just to get some kind of exercise in was foiled. And unless I fall asleep at 9 tonight, I can't see myself getting up at 6 to lift tomorrow. My week has officially gone to shit. And it's only Monday.

Also, the Dirty Old Man client decided today that he's going to take us to lunch tomorrow. I don't think so. You'd have to physically knock me unconscious to get me into a car with that guy. I don't want to be assaulted. We're either going to sneak out without his knowledge and pretend we forgot (but then he'd probably try again Wednesday) or Susan's going to have to man up and let him down easy. Because if this is left to me, there's no telling what I'll say to this pervert.

Hope you all are doing better than me right now. When i feel less like death, I promise to make a happier post.