And Biology Nearly Won This Week...

... in our continuing battle. I had thought the battle lost when I was forced to miss work Tuesday and half of Wednesday. Allow me to recap.

Monday found me feeling good. I was ok in the morning, having gotten enough sleep. I was ok in the day, kicking ass and chewing bubblegum on my lakeshore resort project. I helped Steph do some grocery shopping, I got a lift home, I put the groceries away, and then I was suddenly gripped with severe abdominal pain. I was up till four in the morning... uhm... near the bathroom. I had thrown up lunch, breakfast, and even some popcorn from Sunday night.

Tuesday I was aunable to eat anything. I was hot, and shivering because I was cold, and laying on the couch trying not to put any pressure on my midsection. I had a massive headache, and I was also very very near the bathroom, since I couldn't stop throwing up.

Wednesday morning I did Steph's paper route, since she was laid up with her ear infection. This was apparently not a good thing since immediately after there was a great deal more blood coming out of me than was usual (which means I had started bleeding some 12 hours before, but the timing was still scary). I went in to work in the afternoon, since I like getting paid and being able to afford rent and food, but I was alternately hot, cold, tired, and feeling fine. That night I had a little bit of dinner (Rice Krispies) and was not too too sick, but I was up a lot with pain.

I was at work all day Thursday, but boy that sucked. People in my office, or just walking by, could hear the sounds my stomach was making. After looking up a few things online, (mostly involving the words "black" and "blood")I decided that my doctor could go f*** himself, and I went to the walk-in clinic after work. (My doctor made an appointment with me for next Wednesday at 11am. Seven damn days away.) I went to the clinic, and I was informed that I most likely had an ulcer, which got infected when I had the stomach flu, and was hemorrhaging blood into me. He told me to drive right down to the emergency room for some blood tests. I told him that since I didn't have a car, I'd walk, and his jaw just dropped right open.

"You can't walk down there! You shouldn't be walking anywhere at all!"

I responded by informing him that I walked to work all week.

"You what?! How could you be walking to work when you feel like this? Why are you working at all?"

I informed him that I needed the money, and I didn't feel so bad that I couldn't operate a keyboard. Besides, I did my wife's paper route Wednesday morning.

"You did what? Jesus, I should hit you for being so stupid, why would you do that? How did you even do that with this going on?"

I explained to him that the philosophy I was raised on, "Shut up and tough it out", combined with my Scandinavian heritage, caused me to work even harder when I was sick. Illness just makes me stubborn, and I redouble my efforts so that, from an outside perspective, there's no change in my productivity. I have too much stuff to do. I thought he was going to hit me then. He ordered me to "take a god damn cab" down to the hospital and get my blood tests, then "call your doctor and MAKE HIm tell you the results, and if this keeps up, go to his office and DON'T LEAVE until he treats you". The guy at the clinic, a really nice doctor by the way, was honestly angry at me and my doctor for letting this happen.

Anyways, the upshot of it is, I have a bleeding ulcer (which has mostly stopped bleeding). I missed a day and a half of work, and it seems Kyle caught my stomach flu, which is still hitting him a LOT milder than it hit me. Everyone at the office is moderately sympathetic, which is good, since they don't mind I missed work for a good reason. However, those little pills I got from the clinic are MIRACLE drugs, and my stomach feels 90% better.

On the downside, my cough is getting worse again. People used to say, "Chris, if it wasn't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all." Nowadays, that should be revised to say, "Chris, if it wasn't for bad luck, you'd... hey, what are you doing... hey, get away from me with that baseball bat... hey!"

*krunchkt*