Monday, May 12, 2008

It's Semi-Official, I Have Mono

Today I spent the better part of my afternoon in the medical world. I didscussed various symptoms with my new favorite doctor, parents excluded. I was prodded in my stomach to make sure i did not have a rigid liver or spleen. I was poked in the arm by the nice woman at the nearby pathology lab, who seemed a little worried about my statement that i would be gone in 4 weeks, could they please make sure they malied the bill to me before then. The long and short of it, folks, is that I probably have Mononucleosis. Yay.

Apparently the blood test might come back negative but that won't shake my doctor's belief in my status as an incubator for this annoying virus so really at this point i am only taking the test to be able to present my professors with a medical certificate documenting my misfortune. All of thee symptoms are there so i have resigned myself to a few more weeks of constant naps. The symptoms, in case you were interested, involve sore throat, fatigue, achyness, nausea, and sometimes rigid organs. (Oh yeah, about the sore throat, did i mention i managed to get strep throat on top of Mono, as my friend Aaron said, this is the worst souvenir ever)

Although previously undocumented scientifically I have a few more symptoms to add for myself, just so you all will be warned if you are ever afflicted. (I am probably going to be contagious for the next few weeks so you should all stay far far away, oh wait.)

Kate's Symptoms:
*A sudden love for minty throat spray (possibly the best invention ever, rivaled only by puffs plus lotion when you have a cold in my opinion)
*A propensity to wear flannel and sweats, honestly i don't know how i managed to be sick without flannel shirts before. They have just the right level of comfort and grunge to put you in the mood to lay in bed.
*A new appreciation for librivox.com, seriously Louisa May Alcott now plays a serious role in my life.
*A love hate relationship with cookies. Okay, previously I only loved cookies, but now if i eat only a few i feel sick, very very sad. I quote Romy and Michele.

Michele: Remember the prom? You got so thin by then.
Romy: Oh, I know. I was so lucky getting mono. That was like the best diet ever.

*
A dislike for British medical terms and medications. I just want tylenol, dammit, and I can't find it. Also, they call Mono 'Glandular Fever' here, which just makes me feel like i'm in a Jane Austen novel. I've decided that the reason British and Australian accents and terms sound funny to the American ear is that they are a part of our past and therefore sound incredibly formal and old fashioned in comparison to the totes quick and modern slang of the US today. Seriously, some people from the UK actually say Cheerio, while this does make me smile, it does so because i feel like the person saying it should be at least 80. And a man wearing a bowler hat.

If you find yourself wearing flannel and sleeping in beware! Not to scare the entire lumberjack population of the world or anything.

Anyways, send good karma vibes my way and check back because one of the few things i am capable of in my weekend state is blog posting :)

3 comments:

leens said...

in british slang : Bollocks! I am so sorry :-(

BG Robert Enzenauer said...

Kate: I am truly sorry that you are sick, but we all appreciate your excellent blog posts. There is an excellent website that has the best description of the incubation period for mono, done by a military doc stationed at West Point:
Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1964 October; 54(10): 1699–1705. PMCID: PMC1255045
The Incubation Period of Infectious Mononucleosis
Robert J. Hoagland, F.A.C.P., Chief
Department of Medicine, U. S. Army Tripler General Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1255045

According to Dr. Hoagland, page 1703. "the incubation period of mononucleosis is 33-49 days, provided that my theory that mononucleosis is usually spread by kissing is correct."

Love, Dad

Courtney said...

Flannel shirts. Yes. Just yes.

Also, Tylenol in the countries that speak English strangely is "paracetamol". At least, it is here. Hope that helps. Haha, I am like a walking British-American dictionary. Thank you, Irvine Welsh books.