As my antibiotics ran out last weekend, I expected to feel much better. Unfortunately, I did not. If anything, I started to back-slide. I called my doctor’s office on Tuesday. It was nearly 11 a.m. if memory serves. They offered me one of two openings they had later the same afternoon! I declined as they were both mid-afternoon, and long after my lunch hour, but long before the end of the day. I asked if she had anything closer to lunch later in the week. We settled on 11:45 a.m. on Friday.

The first thing she did was check my pulse rate. She told me if one has a fever, one’s pulse tends to be higher. The higher the fever, the higher one’s pulse. I didn’t know this. I very much doubted I had a fever of any significance however. She had a look at my throat and although it wasn’t perfect, she said it was much improved. My right ear was clear, but when she got to my left, she said it was infected. My response was, “Really?” She asked, “Doesn’t it hurt?” I told her it didn’t feel at all out of the ordinary.

She told me the type of bacteria usually causing this type of infection is resistant to the penicillin family of antibiotics about 30% of the time, and it seems I beat the odds, unfortunately. So this time she gave me ten days worth of telithromycin. It’s a more effective antibiotic, and much to my surprise, she gave me ten days worth of samples so I didn’t have to pay at all! In addition, she gave me a fluticasone propionate nasal spray, which I’m to use once a day. The label tells me it’s a corticosteroid for nasal use. It’s disgusting, but I’m sick of being sick!

So we’ll see how this latest round of medication goes. I still wake up every morning with a sore throat and I hope this ends very soon.