sick week

This is an account of my week being sick, told through narrative and gifs.

A few nights ago, I experienced the first onset of allergies, coming at me full force like a speeding train. All of a sudden, my nose was runny, my eyes were watery, and my throat was sore. And the next few days weren’t much better, especially since I still had to go to class with a scratchy throat and the sniffles. After consulting my nurse mother, she told me it was just allergies. So why do I feel like dying??

On one hand, being sick is kinda fun – you get out of a lot of things with that excuse. No one wants to listen to you sniff every 7.2 seconds or catch what you’ve got, so they’re happy that you’re making a conscious effort to stay far away. On the other hand, you get way behind when you skip things, like sorority meetings and class. You feel very behind, so you drag yourself out of bed when you desperately need sleep in order to not miss the notes your professors refuse to put online. Plus, the only way you’re going to get help is if you come up with a doctor’s note, which is pretty useless when it comes to allergies.

It finally got too bad to handle yesterday. I was sore all over, my lymph nodes were swollen, it hurt to swallow, and I was running a low-grade fever. After a long (and very much needed) nap, my boyfriend drove me to the urgent care clinic. The nurse practitioner was very nice and funny, and immediately announced I had not only a sinus infection, but a throat infection as well. She prescribed me antibiotics, and Brandon took me to CVS to get it filled. She also gave me a sick note so I could miss class today. Yes!

The rest of the night was very, VERY bad. After the CVS run, I started getting chills again from the fever, and yet Brandon took me to Spoons because I mentioned they were having a sorority contest – sorority who had the most girls come in gets a free catered meeting. However, I was so cold and sick that froyo made my fingernails turn blue – I guess my body thought I had hypothermia!

Brandon took me home, and I went straight to bed…to watch an episode of Switched at Birth. What, it was only, like, 9. But I was in pain the entire time – everything ached so much. After an episode, I went to bed with three blankets on top of me, but I was freezing! Teeth chattering, body shaking, tossing and turning. I kept waking up as the night wore on, too – someone knocked on our door after my roommate and I were both in bed to ask us to help with tabling the next day; my boyfriend kept texting me; Facebook kept alerting me that someone new had posted on the sorority page; a couple of my sisters were being WAY too loud; my back was hurting; I had to go to the bathroom…and all this time I was feverish and in so much pain.

Finally, at nearly four in the morning, my fever broke, and I began sweating like crazy. I was so hot, even in my freezing room I was burning up. But after the fever broke, my body stopped aching, and I was able to get a few hours of sleep. And then…the fever came back this morning. I was once again cold, achy all over, and my throat hurt so bad, I could barely swallow. After a painful breakfast, the fever broke again, and I began the sweaty cycle all over again.

Guys, the only good part about being sick is not having to do anything. The rest sucks – you feel miserable, you hurt all over, you’re absolutely worthless, and you just wish it would end. I would much rather be in class right now than sweating through my t-shirt in bed. Seriously.

I don’t know when I’ll get better, but I’m really lucky that a lot of people are helping me through this crazy week. Thank you to my mom for always being there to assess my symptoms and tell me what the next step is via text. There is nowhere I’d rather be than on my couch at home while you bring me “pacas” (popsicles). Thank you to my boyfriend for putting up with my grouchiness and taking care of me. I’m so lucky I have someone as dependable as you. Thank you for my (new) employer for offering to bring me chicken soup. Thank you to Louise for being my pharmacist. Thank you to the housemom for offering to bring me food in bed.

And thank YOU guys, for being some of the best readers ever! I absolutely love writing new posts for y’all, and nothing makes me happier than your comments!

Much love,

Sydney