Face of Death

Friday morning, I woke up feeling no better than the three previous days. Swollen, tender glands. Painful to swallow. Body aches. I decided to try to use my new health insurance while I had it.

I almost didn't go. I figured this was probably a viral thing that would go away on its own. That would have been dangerous.

First let me point out the walk-in clinic I used... Check out these two urls...

www.walkinclinicnyc.com/

www.walk-in-clinic-ny.com/

Same address, different suites, different online portals, different doctors. The first one is the one I ultimately went with, and it's the one I'd recommend.

Made my appointment online. 3:45pm on Friday. Filled out my paperwork in advance online.

Receptionist informed me that I hadn't paid enough of my insurance deductible so I had to pay by credit card. $139.

Didn't have to wait long before I was seen. Doc took my temperature: over 102. Looked at my throat, shook his head, bathed his hands in sanitizer.

Strep throat. Severe. He suggested if I hadn't tended to it earlier, I could have ended up in the emergency room.

A scrip for 10 days of antibiotics.

Saturday mourning. All plans for this long weekend have been canceled, and I'm contemplating taking Monday off to get another day's worth of antibiotics in me before reentering genpop.

The entire inside of my mouth is still recovering from getting burned by the hot soup I chugged in the middle of the week. I don't think I have ever burned my mouth as thoroughly as this. All I've been able to eat is applesauce because it hurts to chew and swallow anything. My face is swollen and misshapen. I'm suddenly relieved I've got a month to recuperate because I would not want her to see me in this state.

Week one and I have completely fallen apart. I have got a month to put myself back together.