So I finally broke down and went to the hospital today. If you know me well, you know I have to be feeling pretty horrible to actually go to the doctor. I was raised by the “unless you’re dying, just suck it up” method, which was fine because I was never really seriously ill as a kid (just colds and such). But once my fever hit 103 and I was continuously hacking up a lung, I thought it may be smart to go. My friend was nice enough to drive me there as I tried not to cough all over him.
While I got in almost immediately, it ended up taking almost 3 hours. Twice I sat alone in the room for 40 minutes just waiting for the next test. I wondered if they had forgotten about me a couple times, and how long a normal person would wait before wandering out into the hallway. It went oddly fast to me since I think I ended up microsleeping a bit, but I felt bad for my friend sitting out in the waiting room. I really hoped he had brought something to do.
Him: Don’t worry, I got through a lot of my book. I thought it might take a while for you to get in.
Me: Well that’s good. What are you reading?
Him: …Twilight.
Me: Nooooooooooooooo my sickness has enabled someone to read Twilight!!!
A lot of things about hospitals are kind of ridiculous. The first time I coughed they slapped one of those flu masks on me. I felt like I was in some weird post apocalyptic movie or something. I asked one of the nurses if they were standard or just for the swine flu scare, and she said they do them during flu season but they were specifically doing them for swine flu now. As cool as it would be to say you survived swine flu, I was kind of hoping it wasn’t that.
They also wanted to do a chest x-ray (to make sure I hadn’t literally coughed up a lung, I suppose) and they wanted to wheel me out on a bed to the x-ray room. A little odd, I thought, since I’m feverish and coughing but I can still, you know, walk, but whatever. Maybe that’s just hospital protocol. So I hop on for the ride…and the x-ray room is literally across the hall. Really? Was that necessary? Though my favorite thing about being female and going to the doctor is how they ask you if you’re pregnant a thousand times.
X-Ray lady: Is there any chance you may be pregnant?
Me: Probably not
X-Ray lady: Probably not? Here they marked you as “no.”
Me: Well she asked if I was on birth control, and I am.
X-Ray lady: *not amused* …Well we can do a quick pregnancy test to make sure. Do you want to?
Me, What I Wanted to Say: Honestly, it’s highly unlikely that I’m pregnant. Yes, it’s theoretically possible even with birth control, but you know what? If I was, I would without a doubt abort that thing. So x-ray away, you’ll just be helping me out.
Me, What I Actually Said: Nah, I think I’m fine.
It’s probably a good thing that she couldn’t see me smirking under my flu mask.
Three hours and many (probably expensive) tests later, the nurse tells me “It’s just (just?) bronchitis.” You know, you think they would have just guessed that when I walked in coughing and feverish, and immediately told them that my friend had bronchitis. Sigh. Oh well. I’m still hacking to death, but now I have a slew of drugs that will hopefully kick in soon. Mmm tylenol with codeine. Maybe I’ll actually be able to sleep tonight.
I hope you feel better soon! Oh, and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with reading Twilight. Even if it is written by a Morman :)
I hope you feel better soon! Oh, and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with reading Twilight. Even if it is written by a Morman :)
Sure, there is nothing wrong with reading a book written by a mormon, even if she puts mormon ideals blatantly into the story. However, there is something wrong with reading a book with a horrible writing style and very weak plot, i.e. Twilight. No offense intended.
Sure, there is nothing wrong with reading a book written by a mormon, even if she puts mormon ideals blatantly into the story. However, there is something wrong with reading a book with a horrible writing style and very weak plot, i.e. Twilight. No offense intended.
I’ve never had bronchitis, so I’m can’t exactly empathize…but if it’s not allowing you to sleep, you have a fever that’s inching ever so close to permanent brain damage and your sputum looks like lung tissue…all I can say is: hopefully you recover soon!
By the way, I absolutely love that you wouldn’t have any doubts aborting an unwanted clump of cells. I wish more people were as uninhibited as you are.
I’ve never had bronchitis, so I’m can’t exactly empathize…but if it’s not allowing you to sleep, you have a fever that’s inching ever so close to permanent brain damage and your sputum looks like lung tissue…all I can say is: hopefully you recover soon!By the way, I absolutely love that you wouldn’t have any doubts aborting an unwanted clump of cells. I wish more people were as uninhibited as you are.
Hm…clump of cells…that might be a bit inflammatory, pretty nondescript and way too general. I guess fetus works.
Let me redo:
By the way, I absolutely love that you wouldn’t have any doubts aborting an unwanted fetus.
Hm…clump of cells…that might be a bit inflammatory, pretty nondescript and way too general. I guess fetus works.Let me redo:By the way, I absolutely love that you wouldn’t have any doubts aborting an unwanted fetus.
No way to tell bronchitis from pneumonia w/o a CXR.
The former, you just hafta suck it up while getting through it — and you can only very rarely die from it. :-)
The latter, you can more commonly — tho still rarely — die from. And you can actually treat that one.
Better to have “coarse interstitial markings centrally likely representing viral vs reactive airway disease” than have “scattered patchy alveolar infiltrates” or even “frank consolidation of the right middle lobe with air bronchograms”.
But now I’m just showing off. :D
No way to tell bronchitis from pneumonia w/o a CXR. The former, you just hafta suck it up while getting through it — and you can only very rarely die from it. :-)The latter, you can more commonly — tho still rarely — die from. And you can actually treat that one.Better to have “coarse interstitial markings centrally likely representing viral vs reactive airway disease” than have “scattered patchy alveolar infiltrates” or even “frank consolidation of the right middle lobe with air bronchograms”.But now I’m just showing off. :D
Feel better soon! The Internet just isn’t the same without you.
Also, I’m pretty sure that if the X-rays don’t kill the embryo, it gets superpowers. I mean, isn’t that how X-rays work?
Feel better soon! The Internet just isn’t the same without you.Also, I’m pretty sure that if the X-rays don’t kill the embryo, it gets superpowers. I mean, isn’t that how X-rays work?
Destroy the flu so that you can mock Twilight into oblivion!
Destroy the flu so that you can mock Twilight into oblivion!
Ok…I love your blog. I really do. It’s so nice to read thoughts that are so intelligent and open minded. It’s so nice to know that although I live in small town NFLD and most everyone drives me nuts with their prejudices, that there are people out there in the world who can actually think for themselves and challenge conventional beliefs. BUT…I admit my beliefs are a bit skewed at the moment, due to having a baby three months ago…and I know you are on birth control to prevent an unwanted pregnancy…but perhaps you should lay off the sex until you are prepared to handle a child. Your lack of concern for your possible fetus is disturbing. If you absolutely do not want children, then have your tubes tied. But if you SOMEDAY want children, just not now, then stop having sex, stop giving a possible life a chance to form before you snuff it out. I understand you’re young and in school and there is a lot you want to accomplish in your life before you have children. I really do. So focus on that – stop having sex until you’re ready to have a child. Don’t have sex, make a fetus, and then kill it because you can’t be bothered to handle the hardship of going to school and being a mom.I had my baby at the start of second semester during the first year of my journalism degree. I’m going back next year. My grades were never better than when I was pregnant.My sister-in-law had a baby halfway through her third year of her B.A. She now has a 4.0. She’s applying to med school next year.So own up to your responsibility. If you’re going to have sex, then deal with the fact that a baby may be a possibility. It’s not that difficult to go to school and be a mom. If anything, it just makes you a stronger person, and shows you can handle a challenge. So for now, do any potential future McCreight’s a favor, and close your legs until you can handle that possibility.And I AM pro-choice. A woman has a right to choose to be a mom. You’re not a bad person for not wanting a baby when you’re young and trying to make something of yourself. You’re not a bad person if you don’t want children at all. But I also believe that women should be a bit more responsible about the power that they have over creating a new life.
Ok, so I’ve been reading this for a while (brilliant blog btw) and never commented before, and I probably shouldn’t let my first one be rage induced, but I couldn’t let this go. Are you seriously saying don’t have any sex at all until you want to have kids? Even through some birth control is 99% effective? Not even touching the whole ‘possible life’ thing. I don’t want to be nasty but do not you not have any kind of sex drive or something? I mean this situation for me would probably lead to drumkenly humping a lamp post or something similarly embarassing after a couple of months. It just seems incredibly unreasonable and pretty repressive of women’s sexuality. Ok rant over.
While my stance was a little strong, I stand by it. I know it’s incredibly difficult to abstain from sex, and it’s something I’ve never been able to do. But the second I got pregnant, I owned up to my responsibility. And again, if a woman wants to have an abortion, then she should have an abortion. Pregnancy should never be forced upon a woman. It was just her whole blase attitude towards a possible life that made me angry.