Man, D. PAY ATTENTION. Note to self: do not let him sit for anything!

Yeah, well. High and chatty and a close game on. And yeah, I wouldn't pick him for a sitter. Wonder how he'll be as a neighbor?

Are you going to have to buy new clothes or will you put the weight back on (in part or full) as you get healthier and have better food?

My clothes were getting tight, anyway.

I'm hoping to tone things up and get some exercise in the coming weeks.

I have a lot of pills now. I may have to ask Teppy if she has time to cross reference them and tell me the best time to take coumadin. If she has time.

Sitting around waiting for the antibiotics to make me not-contagious is boring.

Hil, I'm at the doctor getting a strep test at this very moment. I type in solidarity with you. I don't think it is strep, but I've had a sore throat for 3 weeks (ish) that hasn't gotten better. Hasn't gotten *worse,* either, but no improvement in 3 weeks isn't a great sign. Plus I looked in the mirror with a flashlight this morning, and it looked like there were a couple of white patches. But I don't know; they could just be normal color variation of my throat. But I'm tired of my throat hurting like fire, so here I sit, having gotten the awful throat swab, awaiting the doctor.

Remember, streppies, if the throat is very painful, you can ask you doc for a Rx lidocaine gargle, and some docs Rx painkillers for it.

I wish I'd known that 15 years ago -- I have a history of very bad tonsilitis and strep bouts going back to easly childhood. VERY painful. The first time someone told me that her doc had Rx'd Vicodin for a sore throat, I was pissed.

I have a high pain tolerance, but with a 104 degree fever and as bad as the pain in my throat gets...ibuprofen did nothing, and I've had Rx painkillers Rx'd for pain definitely not as severe as that. I mean painful enough to require a Rx painkiller, but the throat pain I suffered is up there with a broken arm.

IJS -- feel better, guys!

The rapid strep test came back negative, and based on how my throat looks, the doctor said there's maybe a 50% chance the culture will come back positive. So she wants me to start antibiotics and then if the culture comes back negative in 48 hours, I can stop them.

Despite my reluctance to take antibiotics unnecessarily, I'm okay with that, because this just doesn't feel great.

Steph,

I don't know about you, but I have found rapid strep tests to be completely useless. Everytime I've had strep throat as an adult (2-3 times), the rapid strep test showed up as negative.

I have found rapid strep tests to be completely useless.

What my doctor said is, if the rapid test is positive, they're sure it's strep. But if the rapid test is negative, they don't assume it's nothing, so they always send the negatives to be cultured for 48 hours, which is a more rigorous test. So I'll know in 48 hours if it's strep or not.

Based on how my throat looked, and on my symptoms (and the length of symptoms), the doctor told me there was a 50-50 chance it's strep, and to just start the antibiotics today.

I hope all the sick buffistas are feeling better soon!

We went to Stratford Upon Avon today. It was wonderful but exhausting. There are many words one could use to describe the town, but the words "handicap accessible" would not be among them.