I was sick, but better now.

Yep, Strep.

I don’t think I have ever had Strep Throat before, not that I can remember, at least. Boy, its a pretty serious thing. Hurts ALOT. On Friday, every time I had to swallow, I couldn’t help but squint my eyes shut, ball my fists and wince when I did it. It hurt so much on Saturday that I actually took myself to the doctor, which is quite a rare thing. So rare, in fact, that when I called Saturday morning to make an urgent appointment, I considered asking them if they could throw in a Pap Smear, since I am overdue and unlikely to make a separate appointment. But I decided against it.

When I got there, the doctor made a joke about my being alone. I see her about once every 2 months or so, for some reason or another, but its always one of the kids, never me. I was totally out of my element, being there alone; I almost forgot to sit on the little exam bed. I started out sitting in my usual spot, on the chair next to the exam bed. But I remembered at the last minute and hopped up into the bed before the doctor came in. Yipes.

Luckily, none of the kids seem to have caught it from me, and I am not contagious any more. (I have been taking the antibiotics for 36 hours). We are watching Giggles, however. She has a little fever and we know she is getting a new tooth. We hope the fever is from the tooth, but if its still there Monday morning, I will take her for a Rapid Strep Test at the doctor’s office. She is eating and drinking normally so it does not appear that she has a sore throat. I tried to look in there and see if its red, but she was not keen on that idea. She definately has some tooth pain. She saw me with our bandaid bag and asked me for a “bababababa”. I gave my usual response “Sorry, no blood, no bandaid. Where is your boo-boo?” She pointed to her new tooth. I told her I could not put a bandaid there. So she sat right down and started to inspect her feet for a boo-boo (in order to be like Geetle, who stubbed a fraction of her toenail off a few days ago and is wearing a bright yellow bandaid around one toe).

Here is what I learned from my experience with Strep Throat (your experience or doctor’s opinions might differ):
1. Contrary to popular belief, you can be the first person you know to have Strep Throat. I always figured I would know where I got it from, but that is not true.
2. Grownups can get Strep Throat and it will clear up without antibiotics, although the medicine will shorten and lighten the symptoms. Some lazy grownups like me just do not go to the doctor and suffer thru, not knowing they have Strep. That’s Ok, but probably not the best idea, since Strep bacteria can also cause other illnesses and its contagious. Remember, Jim Henson died of an aggressive and rare form of Strep bacteria.
3. I told my doctor I had a sore throat for 3 days, no cold symptoms, no fever. She looked at me and said “you have strep throat.” Then she went to verify it with the throat swab. She was right.
4. In kids, they look for sudden fever, sore throat, upset stomach and no cold symptoms. Kids always need antibiotics.
5. You are contagious for 24 hours after starting the antibiotics.

(For those of you concerned, I have identified the perfect kid-free day for me to go get my PapSmear and I will call for an appt next week. Thank you for your concern. You are right.)

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