DELIRIOUS!

I was happily looking forward to working the entire week with a fourth grade class. The teacher indicated over Subfinder that she had a "good class". Maybe they were just extra good because their teacher was on campus. She was doing GATE testing and made it clear that she was available if I had any special needs or concerns. Anyway, they were great! I was able to talk to the teacher after school on Monday. She was so pleased I was going substitute her class for the whole week. Me subbing for a week was certainly better than a different sub everyday.

I felt alright on Monday, but as many of you know, I'm constantly dealing with ears, nose, and throat issues. I'm always a little swollen, a little sniffy. I have a cough and a drip on a regular basis. I'm always fighting it with some kind of medication or healthy angle in my attempt to breathe. It's rare to feel exceptional. Allergies are a part of my daily living. It's just plain normal for me to have some kind of congestion. Things have to get a lot worse though for me to recognize that I'm really sick and need help.

I had worked in my garden over the weekend and I assumed the pollens and dirt were getting to me. I got through my work day on Monday okay even though I was hampered a bit by an increase in discomfort from my usual norm. By the time I got home I felt so chilled and achy. I took some flu/cold remedy and went to bed early hoping to head this overwhelming malaise off at the pass. I thought I'd feel better in the morning, but I wasn't. I was obviously running a fever and was hard-pressed to even function. I couldn't sub. I felt bad about it. Those kids were looking forward to me coming back. I reluctantly made the phone call to get a substitute for the substitute for Tuesday. I was sure I'd be on the upswing after seeing the doctor that morning and would be able to do the rest of the week.

The nurse took my temperature. She kept looking at the thermometer pierced between my lips because it was taking so long to beep. My body felt so cold to me. It was trying to stay cool in spite of my fever. To both of our amazement it registered at 106 degrees. I said somewhat concerned, "Uhhh . . . shouldn't I be dead with a temperature like that?". . . My doctor stepped into the room while the nurse hurriedly tried to take my temperature again. He informed me that if I really had a temperature of 106 I would at least be DELIRIOUS.

In the past, my allergist has made it perfectly clear to me that I'm just too common place about the fact that I can't breathe. Sometimes I can't sing because of choking on phlegm. I can't have a conversation without constantly clearing my throat. I'm always at odds trying to read a book to a child because coughing inevitably ensues. These are just some of the everyday occurrences that I've gotten use to.

So when the doctor said I should have been DELIRIOUS. Me, knowing of my common place reactions to sometimes extreme situations. Me, the woman that doesn't put enough drama behind what she has to endure. I, decided I was going to get it right this time in spite of my nonchalant demeanor. I said, "Maybe I'm more DELIRIOUS than you think?" My temperature soon came in at 103.

He rattled off my symptoms to me like he was some kind of psychic. I said yes to it all and then he pronounced that I had the flu in spite of me having had a flu shot early in the season. Evidently they only last about four months. No antibiotic was given and I followed all other instructions explicitly because I oh so felt terrible and I so wanted to feel better. I finally relented my golden subbing class and contacted the school. The substitute for the substitute was happy to take the rest of my scheduled week.

My agony doesn't stop there. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, my once achy body turned into excruciating pain. My mild sore throat was now on fire. I couldn't eat or drink it hurt so bad. I was somewhat buffeted by the office staff that morning when I called in with my complaint. "The doctor will be in tomorrow," the voice reported. I mumbled a few words back and hung up the phone because I was just too DELIRIOUS.

After being nonfunctional the rest of the day, as I was the day before, laying on the couch, sleeping, and then periodically waking up or maybe I should say, coming and going in and out of consciousness. My neck was swollen and hard as a rock because of my inflamed glands. I started thinking maybe I had been misdiagnosed and that my outcome was far more sever than the doctor had obviously anticipated. I'm telling you - I was DELIRIOUS!

Finally I got a grip and that afternoon I called the doctor's office and said, "I want to talk to the doctor. He told me to call Thursday if I was getting worse. Well, it's not THURSDAY. It's WEDNESDAY and I'm getting WORSE!"

I didn't talk to the doctor, but within minutes I got a phone call back informing me that a prescription for an antibiotic had been called into my pharmacy. I've been on the mend since my first pill.

Because I had canceled my scheduled work my name automatically kicked back into Subfinder as being available. A teacher who likes me to take her class was specifically submitting me work through the Subfinder system. I said NO on Wednesday. I said NO on Thursday, but she sent a message through the "special instructions" mode indicating that she was putting these substitute days in one day at a time instead of the block days which were needed, Wednesday thru Friday. I could see she was hoping I could get in there somewhere. I committed to Friday. I am feeling better, at least I'm not DELIRIOUS.

DELIRIOUS

Definition:

• Having a delirium - irrational through illness as a temporary result of a physical condition such as fever
  
• wandering in mind
  
• light-headed
  
• insane
  
• raving
  
• wild