Icky! I'm starting to feel even worse physically than yesterday. And I felt worse yesterday than two days ago. And so on. Oh, I feel so icky. But I've been doing interweb (heehee) research and have compiled a list of infectious diseases that I could possibly have.
1. Streptococcus Group A. I don't know if there's a group B or group C, but this one has a classic sore throat (often accompanied by a cobble-stone effect, as I've heard it called... I don't know where... I don't even know what it means). It is classically a throat infection, but can also be a skin-infection, showing as red, weeping sores. This disease can also turn into scarlet fever, which has a signature rash in the folds of the body. I have a sore throat and rashes, but I also have a cough, sneeze, and headache, so I think strep might actually be out of the question. A couple of days ago, I had no cough. So let's move on.
2. The Common Cold. Only lasts a day or two, the sufferer suffers (redundancy, hurrah!) from a red, runny nose, slight cough, and sneezes and wheezes. Unfortunately, what I have is a high fever, and has lasted quite a bit longer than the cold does. That's why I think it's...
3. Influenza. The 2004 Edition. Yes, this year it's back, and worse than ever! Supposedly not only was there a shortage of vaccines, but it's being discovered that the vaccines don't prevent the deadliest strain. And, yes, I said deadly. This year it's expected to kill 70 thousand people world-wide, including otherwise healthy adults. I know I'll be fine, because the Lord heals me, but I feel miserable. The influenza is embodied (get it, it's a pun!) by the symptoms of high fever, aching of the muscles (especially in the neck and back), sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, wet-coughing, lack of ability to sleep, confusion (huh?), rash (only in some cases), and massive headache.
How do I feel? I feel shivery (though my head is warm), ache-y, can't breathe, can't take the tissues away from my nose, can't stop coughing, haven't really slept in a couple of days, can't stop scratching the backs of my legs and insides of my elbows, I'm confused because I can't think because my head hurts. That's why my strep-tests turned out negative, because I probably have the flu. My brother lucked out, he had the flu vaccine early enough that he won't get the bad kind (he had to because of his diabetes) and he got the fully-treatable streptococcus. And he probably carried the flu due to his strep-weakened immune system, and gave it to me.
But, haha! I have the internet. Haha! I know what I have so I can... do nothing about it. And my nose feels red and huge, like Tom Cruise's. And I feel pms-y on top of it all, because I am ms-ing. See, I took the "p" off because it's no longer "pre". Okay, never mind... you didn't want to know anyway.
I'm just going to curl up with a hot water bottle and a box of tissues, and not sleep. Because not sleeping is what I do best, anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day. Maybe I can finish up Broken Music (Sting's autobiography) and start on The Pickwick Papers. ...Maybe....
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Irish History - 2006-05-02
Goodbye Bio! - 2006-05-01
DANCE, WATER! DANCE! - 2006-04-26
Gaaaaaah. - 2006-04-24