Lost Day

Today began auspiciously with beautiful sunny weather, a nice walk and an Aztek Mocha, but it went downhill pretty quickly after that.

My eye still looked pretty bad when I looked at it the car mirror so I took myself off to the after hours clinic where the nurse practitioner did a much more thorough exam than my regular doctor did last weeks, including having both ears washed out with a solution which is still sloshing around in my head. In addition to a sinus infection and an ear infection she said I had something called 'periorbital cellulitis, an infection of the eye which is potentially serious. She sent me to the emergency department at the hospital because I am allergic to several antibiotics and she thought I might need an IV drip.

More waiting in the waiting room and the little cubicle into which I was eventually ushered and asked to don a gown. The gown did have some sort of tie closure arrangement, but it was impossible to navigate behind my back. In due course, a very nice young red haired doctor came in, agreed with the nurse practitioner, prescribed two different antibiotics, waited to make sure I didn't have an adverse reaction, and eventually let me go home clutching 9 pages of prescriptions, instructions and warnings.

The hospital was very crowded and there were a number of people on gurneys in the hall, ambulance drivers and EMT's pushing empty gurneys back outside and miserable sounding babies. It all clears the mind wonderfully and makes one realize:
A) The doctors and nurses who do this work deserve a lot more thanks than they probably ever get
B) Your own story is not nearly as dire as those going on around you.
C) If what I have is left untreated, it can advance to the back of the eyeball and need surgical attention to keep it from causing blindness.
D) It's a good thing something told me to go to the clinic

We cancelled dinner with the neighbors and the technician isn't coming to fix the TV until Monday. I think I'll take a nap....