Feeling like pooh...and I don't mean Winnie The...

I called off work today. I virtually never do this, especially when we are behind. But, I got about 3 hours of sleep last night and decided when I was fully awake with a sore throat at 4:30am that there was no freakin' way I was coming in.

The last time I called off I was really, really sick and probably should have gone to the doctor sooner than I did. I've pretty much had a cold now for almost 3 weeks. I went across the street to the conviently located doctor's office. Last time I was there, I went in and got a shot and then got some antibiotics and was back to work the next day. I had to wait a little while because I had no appointment, but still I was good to go pretty quickly.

This time around was different. My local doc's office is now a part of a chain connected with a hospital 30 miles away. Apparently, since they changed over I am no longer in their system so I had to fill all that paperwork out again. Does anyone remember off the top of their head when their last tetnus shot was? As it worked out, they were going to be able to squeeze me in that afternoon so I was able to take the paperwork home to have ready for my return. I made a quick call to my all knowing Mom and then took a nap for about 2 hours.

I got in for my appointment and had the joy of being weighed in the hallway right next to the nurses' station. Lovely. Then I ran back over some of my history for the nurse as she entered my info into the computer. She gave me a few looks for not having had an eye exam since 1985 (although I remembered later I did have one when I came back from college) and having not gotten a mammogram.

All I'm thinking is I'll get the "girls" squished later; I want to get rid of this sore throat NOW...please. She takes my blood pressure, asks a few more questions. We had a debate over whether or not I should list that I've suffered a head injury before. Since I've been knocked unconscious twice, I thought it was relevant but apparently it was not as serious a head injury as they were looking for.

Just as I was about to start going through the cabinets out of boredom, the doctor shows up. He looks at my ears, nose and throat. Asks a few questions, listens to me breathe then says, yep, I have a cold. No shit. He gives me a prescription for Allegra D and the Z pack. Great, thank you. I pay for my visit because there's no way I've met my deductable this early in the year. I got home and wait about an hour for my prescription to get filled.

When I get to the pharmacy at the grocery store, I'm not in their system so once again typing must occur. They get my stuff together and one of the ladies says, "Do you have a deductable to pay for your prescriptions?"

Er, no. Not as far as I know. We have a specfic plan that covers this stuff. She calls the insurance agency to find out why my flippin' Allegra D (which is just a prescription grade anti-snot medicine) is supposed to cost me $125!!!!!!! My Z pack price you may ask? $10. She finishes up the call and tells me that Allegra D is not a drug covered by my plan. THE HELL!??!!! Obviously my doctor didn't think over the counter drugs were working so he went for something a little more hard core and they don't think it's relevant? I opted for the $21.99 over the counter version, which thanks to meth labs everywhere, I had to show ID and sign for. It took me almost 20 min. to get my drugs and of course I hadn't taken anything for a few hours so I wouldn't be mixing my drugs so I felt like my throat was on freakin' fire and my head hurt.

But now I am full of drugs and taking a break from my couch to check emails and vent before going to bed. Work is going to suck tomorrow. Think happy, drainage free thoughts for me!

Side note: Duke beat Maryland!!!! Yeah!!! The Maryland rivalry is almost equal to the Carolina one so to see the Blue Devils come back from being down 12 or so at halftime to win by about the same amount made me happy!