The Weekend of Soup
by Scott Hardie on December 2, 2006
This has been a miserable week.
Monday: I woke up dizzy with a high fever and couldn't stay standing up. There were no cold or flu symptoms, but it wouldn't go away, so I worked the day from home. I barely ate and spent the day shivering under a blanket. Having good friends stop by in the evening to watch some DVDs helped to cheer me up.
Tuesday: The fever was still there, but work needed my attention. I worked at the office until 9pm and then came home and worked until after midnight. I felt terribly cold and shivery, but when I looked at the thermostat it said my apartment was 77 degrees. I was so exhausted by the illness and crushed by mounting pressures on the job that when Denise called just after I went to bed, it brought me to the brink of screaming and sobbing. I was awake until 3am obsessing about Denise and the job.
Wednesday: A big presentation in the morning meant I had to get up at 5am and into the office at 7am for a 13-hour shift. The scheduled lunch service never showed, and my only window to leave for lunch was taken up helping a coworker, so my meal for the day was a candy bar from the vending machine. On the bright side, a conversation with my boss lifted one terrible burden I'd been carrying for more than a week. By evening, the gums on the right side of my mouth had swollen so much that I could only chew food on the left side, so a late dinner with Denise was eaten very slowly. Our relationship healed over the conversation, but my fever and shakes got worse.
Thursday: I woke up with a throbbing headache, swollen gums, and a nasty taste in my mouth. It was awkward to swallow and my mouth wouldn't stop salivating, and I mostly spoke through gritted teeth. Lunch was provided in a meeting at work, but while everyone else was done eating in five minutes, I quietly sat in the corner nibbling on my half-sandwich for an hour. By the time I arrived at my mother's house for our weekly dinner, I could barely eat the meal she had prepared. Denise and I argued late into the night over a stupid thermometer. Intense nightmares about work kept waking me up for the six hours I slept.
Friday: Finally the fever was down a little and I wasn't shivering, but now I was throwing up what little I could eat. I tried to take the day off of work entirely but still got roped into roughly three hours from home. When I finally made it to a doctor in the evening, the diagnosis was tonsillitis, my first time with it. I wouldn't need surgery, but the antibiotics would need a few days to take effect, meaning I could only eat liquids for the weekend. While my prescription filled, I stocked up on soup, applesauce, ice cream, mashed potatoes, pudding, and egg nog.
today: The fever is down further and for the first time in a week I feel completely lucid, but now tissue all over my mouth is beginning to swell up and I can barely swallow tomato soup. I really hope this medicine kicks in soon. Having a clear weekend means I'd normally commit myself to finishing the FIN post that I started a week ago, but foremost I need to rest and take things easy. I hope you have a better weekend than I expect to.
PS. Special thanks to Denise and my mom for going out of their way to help me this week.
Eight Replies to The Weekend of Soup
Scott Hardie | December 2, 2006
She has my sympathy then. I'll be glad to kiss this nuisance goodbye in a few days and never see it again.
Hmm, curious: When I look up tonsillitis on Wikipedia, not only does it sound inconsistent with my symptoms, but the article says amoxicillin should not be prescribed and that's what I'm on. I'm glad I trust my doctor a lot more than the Internet.
Kris Weberg | December 2, 2006
At least no one suggested that you have those Jones Sodas holiday meal flavors as a substitute for solid food.
Seriously, though, that sounds like a scary, unpleasant experience. I've never had tonsillitis, but I have had gum grafts and an infection following a wisdom tooth extraction, and the experience sounds vaguely similar in terms of feeling like crap and living on soup.
Denise Sawicki | December 3, 2006
Wow, that sucks. Too bad you had to work despite all that! Glad you had people to help you, at least.
Aaron Shurtleff | December 4, 2006
Yuck! Egg nog?! That's the problem right there!
But seriously, sorry to hear that your week was so horrible. I hope you are doing better, as it sounds like you must be by now. I don't think I've ever had problems with my tonsils, and it sounds like I don't ever want to!
Anna Gregoline | December 4, 2006
Oh no! Vibes to you, I hope you are feeling better soon, Scott!
Scott Hardie | December 7, 2006
Doing much better now. Thanks for the kindness, everybody.
Amy Austin | December 31, 2006
Oh, shit -- ditto on what Denise said! Sorry not to see it sooner, too... like you, I often catch up in blocks and feel behind on my comments.
Having had chronic tonsillitis throughout my life (my childhood pediatrician had suggested a tonsillectomy -- a suggestion that my mother ignored -- and I have frequently wished I could go back and change this!), I am quite sympathetic to your discomfort. In fact, I have been having throat and sinus problems for about 2-3 weeks now, irritatingly enough. No antibiotics (that's true what you read, btw), but man I wish I could rip those things out altogether!!!
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Mystery Gift
Thank you, Johnson, whoever you are. I received what I presume is a birthday gift hand-labeled from someone named "Johnson" in Jacksonville, Alabama, postmarked Anniston, Alabama on May 22nd. This means it's someone who knows me well enough to anticipate my birthday and know my home address. Go »Day 178
People have been asking me how the diet is going. I'm still at it, although I cheat much more often than I'd like, so the daily caloric average is now 1500-1800. However, I've been stuck on one seriously cruel plateau. Go »The Revised Revised Revised Story
Last spring, This Modern World ran a great parody charting the decline of civil liberties in recent years, after the then-shocking revelation that the government was building a database of every call made in the country: (link) I was reminded of that over the weekend as the latest shocking revelation came out, that the FBI has vastly abused its new ability to request confidential information in the interest of national security (link), almost as if it was the next panel in the strip. Except I'm not laughing. Oh, what I'd have given to be the reporter at Alberto Gonzales's press conference this morning. Go »Hello Stupid
I don't know why car companies insist on calling their products "vehicles" now. Apparently "cars" became a dirty word and I missed it. But if you're going to change the term, consider your marketing messages carefully: As a matter of fact, yes, I have heard about radar, sonar, and infared technology in vehicles, such as submarines, aircraft carriers, and helicopters. Go »Newer Neighbors Upstairs
"That's the fucking truth!" "You're a fucking idiot!" "Shut the fuck up before I slap your ugly head!" Go »
Jackie Mason | December 2, 2006
[hidden by author request]