A post in which I am sick

I was up at 12:23 and then again at 2am with insomnia.  Since I was up anyway, I went ahead and put a load of towels in to wash, in part so I could get my fancy new hand towels out to be used.  I had an awful time getting back to sleep, and when I did drift back off, the sleep I got was fitful and poor.

When the alarm went off I felt croupy, my throat was sore, and I felt as if I had been rolled downhill in a barrel full of old boots.  I called in to work.

I did go back to sleep afterwards, and woke just before 8am.  I called the doctor and made an appointment.  Since my GP had recently gotten a promotion and dumped her patient load, today was my first visit with Dr. King as her actual patient.  I had seen her shortly before treatment last year.  She has an excellent bedside manner.  It's also kind of convenient that Dr. Edwards moved on when she did.  My family blames her for my late diagnosis with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2010, despite the fact that I have been told from several sources that she didn't neglect any standard of care, and that I had an a-typical symptom profile for the disease.  I wouldn't have changed doctors otherwise, but perhaps it's not a bad thing that this happened. 

We had a pretty good visit, with her getting acquainted with my meds and body.  The company has decided that we have to get all maintenance drugs via mail now, and the service they have chosen is notoriously hateful to deal with, so we spent some time trying to get that sorted.  Eventually, though, she told me that there wasn't anything they could really do for me.  She thinks I have a cold, and that I should feel better in a couple of days.  She did caution me that there is a 'viral soup' going around right now, and to come back if I didn't feel better.

I left after hopefully getting the prescription junk sorted, and headed to the grocery store.  I hadn't eaten before I went, and I was hungry.  I picked up some orange juice and a pie crust, and headed on home.

I had a bunch of bits and bites in the fridge that would be perfect for a quiche, and it was short work to get one in the oven.  While it was baking, I had some cookies (I always crave junk food when I'm sick) and some toast to get mangled bread from the freezer used up.  I had some of Mother's homemade peach jam (my favorite) for toast.

I spent the afternoon dozing off and on, answering text messages to Andy, who was apparently off work today, and watching a little TV. 

The bomb dropped about 7:30 or so.  My leather sister Wilenda sent out the email that her long-teetering relationship was officially kaput as of this afternoon.  Bless her heart.  It's a terrible thing, but this has been coming for a while, and I think in the long run it will be good for her, but in the short run it's pretty awful.  She has two kids, and she'll have to find someplace to go.  I called, but didn't get an answer.  Her voice mail was full.  There was little I could do but put out the critter call to the members of the Kindred who don't read email, and then send a supportive email to her.  I told her I love her, and that if she needs me to do anything I will.  I didn't know what else to do.  Words seem woefully inadequate.  But they were all I had to offer tonight. 

Around 8pm or so, I made a sandwich and then got ready for bed.  I had some sweet texts from Chuck, checking up on how I was doing, and offering to bring me anything I needed to the house.  What a sweetheart of a guy.