I know.
Yesterday when I decided to check my throat, just to make sure that the itchy feeling was indeed allergies, I about threw the flashlight at the mirror when I saw white. The red dots on the roof of my mouth made me believe that instead of allergies, I was dealing with strep. 2 days before our trip. Perfect timing (sarcasm).
So, off I went to the doctors office (second time in 3 days), sure that they would write me off as both a hypochondriac mom and patient. I was really expecting to just be given a script for antibiotics on the wild hare that it flared into strep while I was on the trip. I really don’t want to have to experience a foreign hospital or doctors office. To my surprise, without me feeling that bad yet from the strep, I tested positive for it already (last time I had strep, I felt like DEATH WARMED OVER, and yet still tested negative. Go figure). I decided to get the antibiotic shot instead of pills because who wants to take pills while they’re on vacation? And as for the pain the doctor talked about in association with the shot, I decided I’d pull up my big girl panties and be brave.
Holy Wow, Y’all. Penicillin shots AIN’T NO JOKE. It seriously was worse than an epidural. I felt like the nurse took a sweet forever to finish, and then I felt as if my leg went numb. So he had me lay down for a bit. I felt good enough to get up after about 5 minutes, and meandered to the front desk to check out. I still had to wait to make sure I wasn’t allergic, so I sat down and started texting Drew. And then my ears started ringing. And then I started seeing black spots. And that’s when I knew.
I hobbled back over to the door that leads to the back exam rooms and gently knocked. They came and I remember saying “is it normal for my ears to be ringing? I’m seeing black too and things are starting to dimm….” What happened next was a rush of nurses and medical assistants, along with my doctor, trying to get me to sit down and take my vitals. Apparently my body reacted to the shot by my blood pressure bottoming out, which lead to me almost fainting. They almost didn’t let me leave the clinic alone, since my blood pressure was still low. Thankfully I made it home ok, and now am left with the sore bottom to prove that I got that stupid shot.
Here’s to hoping I can wobble my way into the airplane tomorrow. And lesson learned (a) don’t contract strep before vacation (b) don’t ever get the penicillin shot again.