I woke up last Sunday feeling truly awful. I was expelling fluids and waste products through various orifices, and my nose was like a stuffed-up, yet somehow still gushing, faucet. Since then, everything has downgraded to a case of the sniffles.
I decided to write a post called “What Being Sick Taught Me About Business,” until I realized that it really hasn’t. I’m a location-independent worker, so my office is my laptop, which was 10 feet away from my hacking, wheezing body. As you can imagine, I didn’t call in a sick day. I have since wiped everything down with Lysol wipes though. Twice.
Instead of going to the doctor, as a 20-something male, I chose instead to treat the symptoms with OTC medication (thanks, Walgreens!) and check out WebMD. My problem with WebMD has been that no matter how specific I get with my symptoms and problem areas, it always gives me results that range from “light cough” to “certain death.” Here’s the list from this time around:
- common cold
- acute sinusitis
- migraine headaches (adult)
- hay fever
- bronchitis
- chronic sinusitis
- indoor allergens
- tension headache
- allergic reaction
- nonallergic rhinitis
- nasal congestion
- cluster headache
- pneumonia
- dust exposure
- nearsightedness
- nasal polyps
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- foreign object in the nose
- chemical pneumonia
- asthma (teen and adult)
So basically, I could have had the disease that killed George Washington (pneumonia), a severe allergic reaction, or something stuck up my nose. And I should’ve been looking into buying facial tissues, antibiotics, low-grade steroids, or glasses. Gee, thanks WebMD.
As a result of being not of the healthy persuasion, I stayed in and spent a lot of time online and watching TV, hence this week’s two current events-based posts. But now that I’m lucid and no longer taking copious amounts of cold medicine, posts should be back on track. But I must say, I learned something from this whole experience:
Don’t get sick. It sucks. And for the love of Gosh, don’t trust WebMD.
