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A blanket of white snow covers the streets, cars and rooftops. It's beautiful.
But obviously, I'm not yet back in Florida.
I caught a horrendous sinus infection on the flight here, to New York City. I'd never felt so much pain in my ears until we descended into JFK. I felt as if my eardrums were going to burst. I stretched and contorted my jaw, swallowed, frantically rubbed my ears. Nothing seemed to work. I wanted to cry. For the next day and a half, my ears were so blocked up, I could barely hear myself talk.
And since then, I've been slowly recovering. I've had a great time here -- sightseeing, catching a show, having sushi in Manhattan with the BF's brother and sister-in-law, playing in the snow -- but I never would have been able to do it without lots of Advil and cold and sinus medication.
My BF is home. I insisted he fly back as planned. No reason for both our lives to be held up by me. My sinuses still hurting and blocked up, I was too scared to fly again and experience the same pain -- or make it worse -- on the way home. So I rescheduled my flight back, hoping I would get better during the extra two days I gave myself.
I went online to figure out why my head hurt so bad while we landed. The Internet is a hypochondriac's best friend. I am suffering from barotrauma. This can happen if you fly while you are sick, especially if you have head congestion. I tend to learn things the hard way.
I wanted to see a doctor today, just for some peace of mind that I would be OK on my way home tomorrow. But neither doctor's office I called was seeing new patients. Jesus. I could have gone to an ER, but I would probably have rotted in the waiting area for hours while urgent cases went first. It was a sad wake-up call that it's impossible to get a doctor who isn't your own to see you unless you go to an ER. No wonder those places are terribly overworked and understaffed.
My friend whom we came to visit has been wonderful. She's been taking care of me like a mom, cooking and letting me overstay my welcome by letting me recover on her couch. I've watched more TV in two days than I normally watch in a year. Thank you so much for your kindness, A.
Again, the trip has been a blast, and I will have pictures posted when I get home and settled. But for now, I just hope I make it home OK.
Current mood: Sleepy
Replies: 1 shoutout
Get well soon hon.
Posted by Spooky Bob @ 03/17/2004 08:03 AM EST