When I Announced on Twitter That I had Strep, I Lost Ten Followers. And I’m Not Even Kidding.
Yesterday, I went to see my family doctor. The moment I walked up to the receptionist’s window, she looked at me and grimaced.
“It’s strep,” she announced.
“You’re joking!” I said.
“No,” she replied. “It’s strep.”
Perhaps you think my receptionist is psychic. She might be, but the truth is that my husband had scheduled an appointment 15 minutes before mine, so once they gave him the swab, they didn’t even bother testing me, what with my swollen glands and hangdog expression.
They did, however, chide me for holding out a full 23 days before I made a doctor’s appointment.
What can I say? I was busy.
At any rate, Bruiser had developed a bad case of conjunctivitis, so when I took him to the doctor this morning, I went ahead and had them swab his throat for strep, too.
Positive. I opted to give him the strep shot, rather than the 10-day antibiotic.
Although, before you jump on me for photographing my son’s disquietude, seeing his picture on my cell phone actually made him forget his pain and stop crying. So HMP!
Of course, If Bruiser had strep, there was no way Punky could have escaped- the two are practically inseparable and what’s one is the other’s.
Including, as it turns out, illness. When I took her to the doctor this afternoon, she tested positive as well.
And as an aside, let me warn you that the pediatric strep shot HURTS LIKE HECK. Both my kids cried harder than I’ve ever seen either one cry before. Had I known that, I might have chosen the 10-day antibiotic…
Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? Five minutes of pain is infinitely preferable for all of us to ten days of incessant whining. My kids hate medicine with a passion normally reserved for Rush Limbaugh.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to today. You?
>Dammy, I can certainly think of a kid for you to invite over now…
>Make sure you THROW AWAY YOUR TOOTHBRUSH after you’ve been on the antibiotics for a few days (or wait a day or so after your kids’ got the abx shot) so that you don’t reinfect yourself. I forgot this minor detail in January (and I’m a healthcare professional, so I really have no excuse except I was ill and felt puny), thus I contracted strep twice. Ug. Feel better soon.
>What a d=sad but adorable photo. Hope you’re all feeling better soon. Chin up!
>I agree, Throw away your toothbrushes and wash your pillowcases at the very least!I’m such a wimp I never go more than a week with a sore throat without a strep test 🙂 Sometimes I wish for a lysol bomb…I hate sickness. Since December we have had Strep, pink eye, two stomach flu strikes one that sent me to the ER for 2 bags of fluid, an ear infection, sinus infections, constipation that sent my son to the dr and made me give him miralax and 2 fleets yikes, and of course other little colds here and there. I’m done with sickness please dear god let me be done!
>Feel better! All of you…I had NO idea that strep was so contagious.
>I can smell strep. My brother had it a lot as a child, and it has a really distinctive smell that wafts off of someone when they’re infected. If your husband hadn’t just been there, that would’ve been my guess as to how the receptionist knew.Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
>Just to follow up on your previous post about whether or not to link, none of the links are working right now AND IT’S REALLY ANNOYING. Chalk up another vote for putting a side feed on my home page!
>That should have said, YOUR home page.
>I’d so go the shot route for the kids. None of them have ever been pro-medicine. We joke now that they knew long before the FDA that medicine wasn’t meant for little kids. (And if they had an adult shot for it, I’d do that, too.)
>Okay, so I smell bad and the linking is annoying. Some of you really know how to make a Sunday morning jussssst right. ;)Parents.com is broken right now. Hopefully, they’ll get it fixed soon. If I don’t link to it over the weekend, there will be nothing here over the weekend. So if you don’t like the Parents.com links (when they work- I’m assuming no one likes them now!), then just come during the week. I try to have three posts on my blog each week that don’t link to ANYTHING, and I think that’s pretty good- Most bloggers only write about three times a week anyway. I AM TOTALLY SPOILING YOU.I am finally feeling good enough today to fumigate, so that’s what I’m up to. Bruiser woke up in the middle of the night, ran around for an hour and a half, and then projectile vomited all over me. Whee. He’s totally back to his old self today, though.Punky is limping because her leg hurts where that horrible shot was given.Good times.
>The link is not working… oh, I see you already know that. Feel better!
>I’m glad you’re starting to feel better!!I am going to chide you, too, for leaving the strep so long. It sounds really goofy to be all up-in-arms about it, but..my best friend died of strep throat – 2 weeks after she came down with it – and, at the age of 38, left her 9 year old son behind. Her ex-husband (they divorced when their son was 1 year old) is now parenting alone. It was unbelievably awful then and it still is.
>Wow, you are having such an awesome weekend that I don’t know if I can read your blog anymore because of my insane jealousy. Uh huh. Anyway, the strep smell doesn’t make you stink – it’s just something you recognize once your five year old son has had it seven times in six months with a dollop of two rounds of scarlet fever in between. Damned tonsils – we took care of THAT crap last August. Glad to read that you are all feeling better – ditto on that toothbrush thing btw – chuck ’em!
>I’m sorry, did I give you my strep via the ether? I get it every year now, and it BITES.
>Hang in there widda house full of strep.And I’m not annoyed by broken links; I separate sausage links all the time 😉
>Aww, the poor little guy! Strep stinks, that is for sure!
>They can give antibiotics in SHOTS?!!?! Why the he** did I not hear about this before?? All the times I have fought with the toddler about taking meds ~ the doctor could have saved me the frustration? I’ll remember this next time!I’ve taken a pic of my kiddo in that mood before ~ if for no other reason than to have it as a reminder the next time my ovaries start twiching!
[…] It’s embarrassing to admit that this is the case, but I’m sure you moms out there understand. My worst nightmare is taking my kids with me while I’m sick all the way across town to my doctor’s office so that I can get checked out. And generally, that’s my only option. So rather than getting the medicine I need, I end up, for example, suffering with strep throat FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH. […]