I have strep, again. I felt fine all day on Monday, and then Monday night around 9 my throat started hurting. By 10:30, as I was trying to finish QC'ing a production set, my throat was very swollen and my eyes were tearing up every time I swallowed. I went to bed with ibuprofen and hoped I'd wake up feeling better in the morning (despite mounting evidence to the contrary, I'm still pretty sure that ibuprofen and a good night's sleep will cure anything). And I did wake up feeling a little better, but my throat still hurt when I swallowed. I didn't have a fever and I really needed to be at work because we had 2 new contract attorneys starting at 8:30 am, and as the person in charge of this huge, ridiculously confusing scientific doc review, I needed to be there to lead the orientation. So off I to work I went, with "throat coat" tea and lots of honey in hand (a little remedy I got from Citations one of the many times I had strep in law school). I made the new attorneys sit at the opposite end of a long conference table from and I drank tea and talked until I was hoarse.
By noon I felt really bad and my eyes were constantly tearing from how much it hurt to swallow, so I wrapped up the orientation and gathered up my laptop and my work and headed home. By the end of my 7 minute commute, I felt bad enough to turn the wrong way into my neighborhood and head to the local urgent care. Thirty minutes later I had amoxicillin, a strep throat diagnosis, and a recommendation to talk to an ENT about getting my tonsils out. The doc said it might be premautre, but it wouldn't hurt to start working with a specialist keeping track of how often my throat swells up and gets infected, something that has been happening a lot since I had a terrible bout of mono in college (I was in the hospital a total of 7 days, for mono, which is just ridiculous; my throat swelled almost shut and I couldn't eat and it was very bad), and it's been happening with increased regularity since I've had children (probably due to day care- they never get sick, and none of the kids in their class are sick with strep, but there's a probably a single strep bacterium floating around and it's enough to take me down in 15 hours).
So I called JP's ENT to set up an appointment (an ENT he no longer needs because his ear problems are CURED! I still find it strange to see him swim without a cap and a bright orange ear plug, but it's pretty awesome). It might be too soon to actually schedule a tonsillectomy, and from what I hear, the recovery as an adult is awful, but I can't keep getting strep every couple months. It hurts, it interrupts my work, and I have to quarantine myself from my kids (do you know how hard it was to not hug the Biscuit last night? SO HARD. She kept crawling after me and stopping to hold out her arms with a big smile and I had to walk away and it was terrible. Landon understood since he was older, but his only memorable experience with sickness was the stomach virus from a few weeks ago so he just watched me warily out of the corners of his eyes any time I ate solid food).
I went to bed last night at 8:30 after taking ibuprofen, amoxicillin, my vitamins, and two sleeping pills. I woke up at 9 a.m. this morning feeling much worse, but now after some waffles and fried eggs, more ibuprofen, and lots of tea, I'm feeling about where I was yesterday morning. I still have to work, which sucks, but questions from your eight attorney review team in a complicated IP doc review wait for no one (and no bacterium). At least I can do it from home, in pj's, with the food network on, but a tonsillectomy is sounding pretty good right now.
Wife, Lawyer, 200 RYT, Mom of 3 Kids, 2 Cats & 1 Bulldog.
Traveler, Reader, Yogi, Margarita Enthusiast.
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Yuck, so sorry! I've got one for-sure sick kid and one possibly sick infant. It seems like winter refuses to loosen its grip on our house and yours too. Feel better!
ReplyDeleteUgh, sorry you feel so bad! My 15 mo old son has strep (which sucks). If I don't get it, this will be the miracle of 2011!
ReplyDeleteIf they haven't told you already, throw away your toothbrush. Strep germs LIVE on them.
ReplyDeleteAnd get to feeling better soon! :)
My sister had her tonsils removed last year (at age 27) and while the recovery was horrible, she is now very thankful she did it. It took her a good 9 months before she'd admit it was worth it, when she realized that she was no longer sick every other month. Just prepare for an unpleasant month or two, and then it'll be bliss afterward!
ReplyDeleteOuch. I totally feel your pain, I had to get my tonsils removed when I was 18. It was....horrible. BUT...if you need it done I have about 10 million tips to help you recover more quickly than I did!
ReplyDeleteAlso get recurrent strep, also have been told to do the tonsilectomy. Probably will consider it this year.
ReplyDeleteYUCK for you, hope you feel better
I had my tonsils out at 19, and only because repeated sore throats kept going to my ears which not only hurt like an ice pick in the ear each time but was starting to affect me hearing. I had something called hypotropic tonsils which means that I had constant swelling.
ReplyDeleteI was sick as a dog, despite my very optimistic thoughts going in: I'd known lots of kids who were up and kicking in a few hours. I was due to get on a plane to Europe in 5 days for an exchange program and I had to write two term papers while recovering. I ended up dropping at least one of the classes (it's kind of a blur) and getting on the already-paid-for flight anyway (my surgeon was horrified.) We had an orientation tour first and I think I slept through most of the first week using my much-needed pain pills. My throat felt sore for about five years (yes! my missing tonsils felt just as bad as before!) AND I lost the ability to sing-- I wasn't THAT great, but I could carry a tune; now I mostly croak.
And I shouldn't leave out the fun little story of how I was almost taken as Mrs. Somebody Else to have my hysterectomy. I was groggy before surgery but my dad rescued me. And the next morning, no ice cream for me; nope: I was brought dry toast, crispy bacon, fried crisp potatoes, and OJ-- just the things you want to eat after a tonsillectomy! Such fun.
Granted that the surgery could have improved in the ensuing years, but do lots of research before you agree. While I wouldn't like to lose my hearing, I didn't especially like the other results, either. (Even back then it was a laser-assisted surgery; not the yank-em-out, sick-from-anesthetic experience of old. But still...) And I still get strep-- just not as often.
Bleh. Yuck.
I forgot to say, "GET BETTER QUICK!" (Where DID my manners go?) and to remind you that the Mommy contract says you are only allowed to be sick for ONE DAY, during which they will somehow muddle through, knowing you will be back at the helm the following day. Take them to daycare and enjoy the day in bed. (Oh yes you can.)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry! I can't even imagine having to conduct that type of meeting in that much pain. I mostly do contract work and correspond by e-mail which makes things better when I'm not feeling well. I've actually only had strep once, and my throat didn't hurt. I only had a mild fever--I think I must be a carrier. So far my 4 and 6 years olds haven't gotten it either.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor's pediatrician insisted on having the whole family tested when their son had strep, and usually everyone needed treatment--maybe someone in your family is a carrier? I just got mono for the SECOND time at 33--go figure! It was bad the first time at 22, but not hospitalization bad!
Take care!
I had my tonsils removed when I was 18, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The recovery was no fun, but i haven't had a single bout of tonsillitis or strep throat since. I'm 31 now.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteUgh, strep is the worst! Sorry you're suffering. I had mono really terribly, too, in my teens and then strep and throat infections for years. I almost never get any now despite having 4 kids. ;) There are many really awesome and effective natural immune boosting things you can do to help ward it off, as well as to treat it once you get it and please, please take lots of good quality probiotics (no, eating Activia doesn't count!) during and after your amoxicillin stint. Always, actually. Feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteI had my tonsils removed when I was 16 (...kind of an adult) and it was the best thing I've ever done for my health. I kept getting tonsilitis and my tonsils and glands were so swollen I could barely swallow. I was also lucky enough to have to get a cyst removed from my sinuses during the same surgery.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the full recovery took about 3-4 weeks. After 1-2 weeks, though, I felt good enough to do just about anything. Even one day after the tonsillectomy I was able to eat solid food...even though it hurt to swallow. The most painful part of the surgery was actually my tongue and not my throat (no idea why?) but it must've had to do with something they used to keep my mouth open during the surgery.
I say go for the surgery! You will not regret it.
Random request - can you do an advice post about how not to take work personally, and related, how not to let biglaw get you down? it's really hard not to get frustrated when a doc you do is turned completely red in revision, or when you're given a murky assignment, try hard to get clarification and then ultimately just do it, and then are told it wasn't what was assigned, etc etc. thoughts? how do you stay so positive?
ReplyDeleteI vote for yanking the tonsils. My brother and I, out of all the siblings, got strep all the time. We even had scarlet fever, and that was back in the days when that was a big scary thing. I missed most of second grade that year. The doctor wanted to take my tonsils out, and did. My brother is four years younger, and by the time he was old enough, we had a new doctor who didn't take tonsils out.
ReplyDeleteI have never had strep again, and it's been 40 plus years. My brother still gets it once or twice a year. For what it's worth.
Feel better!
Hi LL,
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't heard of it, I would consider trying a paleo diet. It can really help with inflamation, of whatever kind. It can be an easy fix (of course it's an adjustment to eat different foods, but relative to sickness and surgery, it is much easier). There are some good blogs out there with great kid-friendly recipes, etc.
LC