YES, THIS REALLY IS MY LIFE!


WED APR 23
i started feeling sick around lunchtime. by the end of the day, i was miserable. my throat was in bad shape. on the way home i stopped at the local mini-mart that is just across the street from my bus stop. i grabbed all the comfort foods i could find and then asked the guy to snag me those nyquil tablets from behind the counter and i was all set.


THURS APR 24
around 2amish i was awakened with horrible joint pain and a fever... not to mention that my throat was now sore enough to start complaining about it. boo. i took more medicine and tried to get more sleep.

then somehow i managed to get myself to work that morning, only to discover that i had used every last bit of energy i had left trying to get there. and at this point my throat was so swollen that i had a hard time talking and swallowing. as i walked into the office one of the producers looked at my and said "OMG what happened to your throat???" further verifying in my mind that indeed i looked like the elephant man! (i tried to take a picture of the elephant man when it was in it's full glory, but i was too drugged up and they all came out too fuzzy to see anything)

so i went home. at 4:15 i had my doctor's appointment. he took a culture (that wasn't due for a couple of days) but was almost positive that it was strep throat. he started me on antibiotics and pain killers and sent me home.

the rest of the night was a nightmare... trying to find the least painful way to sleep and not swallow. the pain killers only seemed to be making me drowsy. the pain was still pretty intense.


FRI APR 25
after a restless night of waking up every 2 hours, making my way to the freezer to put more ice in my water, shuffle back to bed, take more 'non'-pain killers and try all over again to sleep... i was a wreck.

friday by far was the most miserable. i couldn't talk. i couldn't swallow. this wasn't working, something needed to change. i called my doctor who sounded a bit too concerned that it sounded like i was getting worse. he told me to double up on the pain killers and add some aspirin and then to add an extra anti-biotic to my diet. he also said that if i wasn't improving by the next morning to call him- because he wanted to see me again.

that evening was very drug-induced. i remember nothing about it.

SAT APR 26
i woke up this morning. weary from the inability to swallow... still. i felt like i had just been beaten up and left for dead. my head was pounding and now my tongue was swelling from the lack of moisture. i called my doctor's office only to hear the words "we are closed until monday... if this in an emergency, please call doc so and so at the following number" confused at why my doctor, just yesterday, told me to call this morning for him to see me- WHEN THE OFFICE IS CLOSED, i dialed the number left for emergency purposes.

frustration is not a strong enough word to use as i tried with all of my swollen might to tell the doctor on the other end of the phone my whole story only to have her hem and haw on the other end of the line and finish her mutterings with "well dear i don't know what to tell you to do."
WHAT? BUT YOU'RE THE DOCTOR!!! IF I CAN'T ASK YOU- who else am i supposed to ask?

i lost it. even though it hurt like hell, i cried and cried. so tired, in so much pain, so sick of not being able to swallow or eat real food... SO DONE!!!

lucky for me i have really good roommates who offered to take me to the walk-in clinic. my even typically really slow roommate actually was ready to go in 5 minutes... and we were out the door

and this is where the story just gets so... well you'll see.

as we made our way past harvard toward the lovely hospital and were just about to turn WHAMO! we were rear-ended from behind by a large work truck... see pictures of mindy's car below.




for those of you that know me, you won't be surprised at this story. like the immortal words of my home-teacher (who also just so happens to be mindy's boyfriend): "peggy this just fits into your life!" so right you are dane... so right you are!

so instead of the walk-in clinic we were now both directed to the ER.

my roommate rachel and i were laughing so hard as we were taking this picture... mindy later said i looked like i was from the movie star wars- yeah, i can see that!

turns out that not only did i come out positive for strep throat and now whip-lash, i also was severely dehydrated... cool... real cool.

several bags of iv fluid, an intravenous dose of antibiotics and a nice touch of morphine later and i am now home and i've lived, once again to tell the tale!

just chalk this one up to yet another amusing anecdote i have in my back pocket to tell at parties... seriously, when we all get to heaven... come over to my house- my earth video is going to ROCK!