4th of July Strep Throat

Seems like according to everyone's blogs they had a nice and smooth 4th of July. For my 4th of July, I had strep throat. Now for those of you who have never had a full blown case of strep, please realize I am not exaggerating. It all started last Wednesday when I thought I maybe had a little sore throat. I drank lots of fluids and took some ibuprofen. That seemed to appease the pain and I continued on going to work and hanging out.

Well by Thursday night my throat was hurting pretty bad, worse than it had ever felt before. But me being the self-diagnoser I am, just went and purchased some of the good Nyquil. You know, the kind behind the pharmacy counter. The next day was the 4th. I didn't have any big plans as most of my friends were out of town for various reasons, so I decided to relax for the weekend. Good thing! My Nyquil had failed! It seemed now my throat had gone from sore to swollen and painful with swallowing. Well of course it is a holiday and the doctors office is not open and I didn't want to wait in the ER when all the people were coming in after blowing off their fingers with illegal fireworks*.

By Friday night I was starting to freak out so I called my Mom to see if she had any further ideas about how to fix a really sore throat. She listed some things for me that I had already done and then she told me to go to the doctor. Well I am apparently slightly stubborn and waited it out until the morning to go to the Urgent Care that opened up at 8am. I told Mom I'd go to the ER if my throat closed up anymore and I coudn't breathe. (Which now sounds funny since how would I get there if I couldn't breathe?) At that time I thought I was having an allergic reaction and that is why my throat was closing up. Anyway, I slept poorly that night. About an hour at a time is all I could do.

I drove to the Urgent Care and was there early, about 7:30am. No traffic on Saturday morning after a holiday. I was the second person to sign in and was subsequently seen within a decent time frame. As soon as the nurse saw my throat she pulled out the strep kit and gagged me, I mean obtained some samples. While we waited for the results I saw the doctor, who was pretty sure it was strep due to the hugeness of my tonsils. After waiting more, she came back and said the test was positive and did I want a shot or pills. After about 2 seconds I said shot. It hurt a little but was sooo worth it. It's nice not to say "ow" after everytime I swallow.



No photos of my nasty throat. I even had a hard time looking at the white stuff blocking my throat off and we all know how I love my gore. But I did add this generic looking picture. Just imagine the white spots being a LOT BIGGER. I am feeling much better now! Finally.

*While lighting fireworks is illegal in North Carolina, it does not stop the stores from selling them.