One Expensive Throat Swab

At 4:00 this morning, Z was looking at my "beautiful" vocal cords.  Really!

Let me explain a bit....

I came home after a bunch of running around yesterday and was TOTALLY wiped out.  I needed to study, but I knew I wouldn't be able to focus and really learn, so I gave in and slept.  Really unusual for me.

I've had a bit of a nagging sore throat for about the last three days---nothing I couldn't handle.  Or so I thought.  I just kind of took it easy all afternoon and through the evening not because of the throat, but I just felt crummy.

At 2am, I woke with the strangest sensation.  I felt like my throat was closing in on me.  What usually feels rigid, felt soft.  I felt like I had to keep swallowing to keep my throat open.  It was scary.  I woke Z and asked him to take me to the hospital.  He asked me if he needed to call 9-1-1.  I had two visions--the sirens coming, blaring, waking our entire family, not to mention all the neighbors; and the bill that would arrive later.  No, we just had to get going.

There weren't a lot of cars in the E.R. parking lot, so I thought we were in good shape. We went in, they did the little prelim stuff and told us to wait.  We waited and waited and waited some more.  I kept swallowing.  Sometimes the opening felt a little larger and then it would go back to shrinking.  By the time I got in to an actual room, I was able to swallow without difficulty.  I started to wonder why we'd come but then the thought of going home, climbing back into bed and having it happen all over again and realized that I didn't want to come back again.

They took me to the ENT room.  It was just a small room with a large blue chair in it.  Kind of like a chair you'd find in a dentist's office.

Again we waited.

They ended up swabbing my throat for strep and sending that off to the lab.  Shortly thereafter, they numbed my nose and throat with some nasal spray.  The stuff was NASTY!  After having just finished feeling like my throat was closing, it was quite disconcerting to have it go numb.  Suddenly I had no control again.

I closed my eyes and went to my happy place, which happens to be a beautiful field of daisies by a babbling brook.  The doctor then stuck a very long scope up my nose and down into my throat.

Thus, the viewing of my vocal cords.  The doctor said it was beautiful down there.  That's nice to know.

The strep test came back positive.  This, I guess, is unusual for adults.  When I was a child, I had strep really bad.  I was about ten years old and just remember getting sicker and sicker until my mom took me to the doctor.  By the time I was seen, I had a throat infection, tonsillitis and scarlet fever.  I would get strep at the drop of a hat.  Thus, the diagnosis was no surprise.