it ain't fun being sick
tonight is cool and fall-like; last night’s rain grabbed on and held fast until the last moments of sunlight today. i should be nursing a killer hangover with the music notes of last nights’ songs drifting through the memories of the night before’s beach party. snapshots, shrieks of laughter, and slices of time should be swirling through my head as i sort out my soggy-logged brain from alcohol-induced forgetfulness.
but instead, today i woke up in my own bed, not on kashiwazaki beach, with a clear head and good-enough sleep. i nurse myself through a torturous breakfast which makes my head pound and throb with intense pain until, not being able to take it anymore, i stuff 2 pills down my throat. yep, one’s a pain reliever, and not your over the counter pain reliever either, it’s doctor prescribed. the other pill is an antibiotic. i woke up in my own bed for a horrible and unsatisfactory reason. i’m ill; and the worst part about it is that i have no idea what the hell i have. not only have i never experienced this unusual what-the-hell-is-it sickness, but i’m in japan where the doctor’s office is an exam on every word and every minute i’ve ever studied. listening to the doctor, i leaned in anxiously, hanging onto every word, processing his sentences in my head seconds slower than his natural speech rate. i’m not getting it all. shit. i don’t know what’s wrong with me. good thing the school nurse at the school at which i work went with me; good thing she speaks no english. and good thing the japanese have a fantastic knack for diagnosing exactly what’s wrong with you while barely listening to the i’m sitting at death’s door sick customer’s symptoms. good thing i know useful japanese for this trip such as, “wooowww, you’re cute!! wanna sing karaoke?” instead of inflammation, umm, temperature, or i don’t know – growth or tumor. the teachers i work with seemed to take one look at me and think i had a cold. “normal back to school sickness!” they’d say cheerfully. the school nurse pointed out the mumps, measles, and rubella in the big, fat official-looking medical dictionary. what?!?! a cold? mumps?? measles, rubella??? this is not the early 1900s; i thought we conquered those archaic epidemics decades ago! perhaps i’m wrong; perhaps i should research on the trusty internet. so, i’m sitting here; today i’ve watched, between naps, back to the future I and II. forgot how fabulous they were! i’m trying to ignore the huge lump growing out of the right side of my face. i’ve got swollen glands, extremely swollen glands.
it all starts last wednesday when i came home from running tired and strained. thinking i was strained from the recent late nights, i didn’t consider the dire sickness that would soon hit. of course!! what was i thinking?? how could i not realize that within the next 8 hours, i would wake up to a huge, ugly growth surrounding my right ear? the swelling started wednesday night along with a pressure-filled headache. i dismissed it. thursday i woke up, immediately my hand drifting up to my face. what it reminds me of is the scene in drop dead fred where rik mayall’s, drop dead fred of course, character’s face gets flattened somehow until it’s wide as a pizza pie. cut that in half, and that’s what i feel i have. thursday passed with dizziness, the chills, the sweats, the fever, and an above-described trip to the doctor. the diagnosis and medicine was perfect, so perfect in fact, that i’ve still got the SAME SWELL, BUT BIGGER, growing out of my face. ok. so it’s not a huge growth or tumor. it’s not a mountain, and i’m not going to die, from this at least, but it’s ugly and foreign feeling. AND DID I MENTION IT’S ON MY FACE? after another trip to the doctor today and by now several days of mr. ugly swell, i’m going to an ear and nose doctor tomorrow morning. the ideas of a cold, mumps, measles, and rubella have thankfully been dismissed. great! now i don’t have to hear ‘moompsue – the japanese pronunciation of mumps – anymore. i don’t have to teach tomorrow or work at all for that matter. the past few mornings, pre-medicine, have been agonizing pain filled, induced from chewing, swallowing, turning my head, or even talking. it’s felt best to put my head down, close my eyes, and cup my swell with a warm, loving hand.
hopefully this ear and nose doctor can do something about these stubborn glands of mine. today’s doc mentioned tonsillitis - i hope that’s all i’ve got! gimme some more meds; some that treat my problem!! results to come; hopefully the tumor will be gone.
but instead, today i woke up in my own bed, not on kashiwazaki beach, with a clear head and good-enough sleep. i nurse myself through a torturous breakfast which makes my head pound and throb with intense pain until, not being able to take it anymore, i stuff 2 pills down my throat. yep, one’s a pain reliever, and not your over the counter pain reliever either, it’s doctor prescribed. the other pill is an antibiotic. i woke up in my own bed for a horrible and unsatisfactory reason. i’m ill; and the worst part about it is that i have no idea what the hell i have. not only have i never experienced this unusual what-the-hell-is-it sickness, but i’m in japan where the doctor’s office is an exam on every word and every minute i’ve ever studied. listening to the doctor, i leaned in anxiously, hanging onto every word, processing his sentences in my head seconds slower than his natural speech rate. i’m not getting it all. shit. i don’t know what’s wrong with me. good thing the school nurse at the school at which i work went with me; good thing she speaks no english. and good thing the japanese have a fantastic knack for diagnosing exactly what’s wrong with you while barely listening to the i’m sitting at death’s door sick customer’s symptoms. good thing i know useful japanese for this trip such as, “wooowww, you’re cute!! wanna sing karaoke?” instead of inflammation, umm, temperature, or i don’t know – growth or tumor. the teachers i work with seemed to take one look at me and think i had a cold. “normal back to school sickness!” they’d say cheerfully. the school nurse pointed out the mumps, measles, and rubella in the big, fat official-looking medical dictionary. what?!?! a cold? mumps?? measles, rubella??? this is not the early 1900s; i thought we conquered those archaic epidemics decades ago! perhaps i’m wrong; perhaps i should research on the trusty internet. so, i’m sitting here; today i’ve watched, between naps, back to the future I and II. forgot how fabulous they were! i’m trying to ignore the huge lump growing out of the right side of my face. i’ve got swollen glands, extremely swollen glands.
it all starts last wednesday when i came home from running tired and strained. thinking i was strained from the recent late nights, i didn’t consider the dire sickness that would soon hit. of course!! what was i thinking?? how could i not realize that within the next 8 hours, i would wake up to a huge, ugly growth surrounding my right ear? the swelling started wednesday night along with a pressure-filled headache. i dismissed it. thursday i woke up, immediately my hand drifting up to my face. what it reminds me of is the scene in drop dead fred where rik mayall’s, drop dead fred of course, character’s face gets flattened somehow until it’s wide as a pizza pie. cut that in half, and that’s what i feel i have. thursday passed with dizziness, the chills, the sweats, the fever, and an above-described trip to the doctor. the diagnosis and medicine was perfect, so perfect in fact, that i’ve still got the SAME SWELL, BUT BIGGER, growing out of my face. ok. so it’s not a huge growth or tumor. it’s not a mountain, and i’m not going to die, from this at least, but it’s ugly and foreign feeling. AND DID I MENTION IT’S ON MY FACE? after another trip to the doctor today and by now several days of mr. ugly swell, i’m going to an ear and nose doctor tomorrow morning. the ideas of a cold, mumps, measles, and rubella have thankfully been dismissed. great! now i don’t have to hear ‘moompsue – the japanese pronunciation of mumps – anymore. i don’t have to teach tomorrow or work at all for that matter. the past few mornings, pre-medicine, have been agonizing pain filled, induced from chewing, swallowing, turning my head, or even talking. it’s felt best to put my head down, close my eyes, and cup my swell with a warm, loving hand.
hopefully this ear and nose doctor can do something about these stubborn glands of mine. today’s doc mentioned tonsillitis - i hope that’s all i’ve got! gimme some more meds; some that treat my problem!! results to come; hopefully the tumor will be gone.
posted by Unknown at 11:26 PM
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