I got a fever late Saturday night, and it kept coming back throughout Sunday and Monday. I took Tylenol Cold whenever it got too bad–i.e., I was freezing to death–and otherwise just tried to rest and drink juice. This morning I had a bit of a fever so I called my GP’s office for an appointment to see what he thought. He only had an afternoon appointment available, so I took that and then went to work.
I got caught up on a few things and realized the breadth of work that is still to be done, then headed over to see Dr. B. I told him my symptoms–neck pain, slight sore throat, occasional cough, throat and nasal congestion, fever–and that I had been sick like this a couple weeks ago.
He surmised that I have just had two different viruses back to back, but he took a throat culture and prescribed Penicillin just in case I have strep throat.
As we were walking out of the exam room, he asked, “Do you need a work excuse?”
“For yesterday?” I asked. “I’m working today.”
“You shouldn’t be,” he replied.
“…well, then, yes, I need an excuse.”
And he wrote me a note that says I can’t go back to work until Thursday.
Seriously. I have been out of sick days forever, and I have work that needs to get done, and I don’t know how I can expect to be regarded as a professional if I’m out sick every couple of weeks! This is really frustrating.
I went to Walgreens to fill the prescription, and I picked up some hand sanitizer and Lysol disinfectant spray. I’m going to try to be ridiculous about cleanliness from now on. I’m also thinking I’d like to see what sorts of HEPA room filters are available on the market and if I could afford one, or preferably two: one for home and one for work. That might not be possible given all the other medical bills (another reason I’d like to be able to work!), but it’s definitely worth looking into at least.
Bah!