Cheating death

Maybe the title of this post is a little dramatic, but after the week I've had, I feel that I deserve a little drama.

School started last Tuesday and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Wednesday dawned with me feeling a bit lethargic, but I still taught my three classes of seventh grade with gusto. As I left school at 3:57pm (7th period ends at 3:45pm), several teachers and students exclaimed over the earliness of my departure, but I needed to be in bed. Thursday I was so tired that I actually needed to lie down after taking a shower and getting dressed. Seriously, I was in the bathroom in my pants and bra, putting on face lotion and I was overcome by the urge to lie down. I ended up taking a ten minute nap before putting on my shirt and shoes, grabbing my bag and heading to work. That was the turning point for me.

I left work after teaching my two Civics' classes and AP meeting on Thursday and went home to sleep before going to the doctor. The PA in my doctor's office suspected strep, but diagnosed me with tonsilitis, took a culture and wrote a prescription for antibiotics. The drugs were great - after the first pill, my fever (103.3 at the doctor's) went down, my throat pain subsided and I was a little less tired. I still called in sick on Friday though - good thing too.

We had cleaning ladies come on Friday morning so I needed to be out of the house for 2 hours. I decided to drive up Rock Creek for a bit. After 30 minutes of driving, I had to pull over and take a nap. My throat was fine, but my head and stomach were killing me. By 7pm that night I was miserable. My temperature was climbing again and by 7:30pm, I was on the phone with my roommate, crying because I was in so much pain. Want to know a good time to go to the ER? Probably before you find yourself crying over the phone to your roommate out of sheer exhaustion.

Anyway, I was at GW Hospital by 8:30pm (I chose to get deathly ill the same night that Tropical Storm Ernesto sent gale force winds and rain through DC), but not admitted until after 11pm (multiple traumas meant I kept getting bumped). At the hospital they got my temperature down to a reasonable number (it was 103 again - NOT a reasonable number), gave me an IV of fluids to counteract my severe dehydration and did several tests and exams to determine what was wrong. Finally, with nothing left to go on, they decided on a CAT scan. I don't know how many of you have had a CAT scan, but while the scan itself is no big thing (although avoid a pelvic scan, if at all possible...trust me), prepping for it is awful. You have to drink 1000 mL of the most vile liquid EVER and then wait an entire hour for it to go through your system. By the last cupful, I was pacing the room and talking out loud to myself and by the last drink, I was holding my hand over my mouth to keep it all down.

The CAT scan revealed a pretty severe kidney infection, caused by the bacteria from my strep throat (which was confirmed on Monday). They prescribed different antibiotics and 3 quarts of water/day for seven days and discharged me at 8am Saturday. I spent the weekend...and Monday/Tuesday in bed (I have never watched so many DVDs) feeling better, but tired and today I'm back at work, feeling fine. Although, being a teacher is sure not conducive to one, drinking that much water and two, going to the bathroom whenever the mood strikes you. Still...much, much better.

So, if you called or emailed or texted in the last five days and I didn't get back to you, it's not personal. I was just very busy avoiding death. I'm sure you understand.