Othersideofmyhead.com

This is, by far, the worse case of strep that I’ve ever had. More so than this one, and this one (which reminds me, I really need to carry over content from 2001 - 2004 to this site), and all the cases prior and in between that i've never blogged about. My glands have never been this swollen (golf balls!), and the pain has never been this bad (it’s been bad before, but not this bad!) Alas, after starting on some amoxicillin late yesterday afternoon, I’m slowly getting better. I currently rate my pain at a 4 out of 10, whereas last night was about 9 out 10 (practically unbearable). I still look and feel disgusting.

I’m so thankful to have received my prescription when I did. I’m currently without health insurance or a doctor in these parts, and while San Francisco certainly prides itself on providing low-cost health care services to the uninsured – no one would take me right away! A big thank you to Mindy for pointing me in the right direction. Everyone needs a Mindy in their life.

So I’m currently bedridden and the room smells like death. I have to sleep with my head on a towel because I’m not swallowing while I sleep (and if I do, the pain wakes me up immediately). Misery! Matt got me some egg drop soup for dinner last night (the only thing I could stomach) and we watched some movies. While I’ve never given strep to anyone in the past (this is like a weird strand that just lives in me, and magically appears when I’m not taking care of myself properly), I’m really hoping that he’s immune.

Anyway, I hate complaining, but there’s a lesson in this. Since moving out here, I haven’t been taking very good care of myself. I'm not as physically active as I should be, I'm not eating well, I drink too much alcohol and too little water, and I’ve been allowing the stress of my job search “get to me.” No more! Once I kick this streptococcus’ ass, I’m reverting back to healthy Kirsten. I worked really hard this past summer to eliminate all the toxins and illness from my system… I need to maintain my clean bill of health. I will not allow myself to tumble back into permanent illness, I refuse!