Listening skills

Disclaimer: I have never had a sinus infection before.

It was around June 18th that I started feeling sickly. A headache, possibly a light fever, and some congestion took my concentration and ability to think for the next few days. Then it happened. I woke up Saturday morning unable to make any sound louder than a whisper. I mean, a true whisper. It's a good thing dogs have sensitive hearing because Emma would not have been able to hear me otherwise. I have rarely felt more crippled! Only once before in my life has this ever happened, and even then it only lasted a few hours. This time I literally had NO VOICE for two days, and was still at a croak for the next two after that. It definitely made for an interesting weekend for Jay and me since he could talk to me, but I could barely respond. We left for Indiana as my voice was recovering, and I thought the worst was over. 5 days at my grandparents' house, and I felt just fine, with only a little residual congestion and drainage. But there it still was, more than two weeks later, as my parents left after the 4th of July. Now, I can be a hypochondriac, but having a cold for 3.5 weeks really just isn't normal, especially for me. Even when I had mono AND strep throat simultaneously, it only lasted 2 weeks. So I finally caved, and made an appointment at the health center.

Tuesday morning finds me sitting in the doctor's office, waiting for Dr. Smith. Yep, generic. And so was her diagnosis. I just had "a lot of drainage". I could have told her that. She pressed on my face a little bit, and asked if my teeth hurt. I didn't scream in pain, so she decided the pressure in my face was not severe enough to be even a mild sinus infection. So I left with some generic prescription Sudafed and Allegra, to clear out the "drainage". 3 days later, and it's not getting better. Just as I expected. Luckily, Jay's parents have access to prescription strength antibiotics in OTC form in the Philippines. His mom was sweet enough to FedEx a course of amoxicillin to me! I started on antibiotics this morning, so hopefully in 24 hours I'll be feeling much better.

In this day and age, it's faster and easier for me to get antibiotics (and feel better sooner) from half way across the world, than to have an American doctor actually listen to my concerns and take them seriously. Don't they teach doctors to listen to their patients?