Contagious

I'm sick, damn....
I hate being sick especially when you aren't sick ENOUGH to take the day off work.
There's too much at stake - if I'm out, patients need to be rescheduled unless the other doc can see them. However, this morning, it was only me in the clinic. Tough it out! I wonder who gave this to me - a friend, a patient, hmm...
It is difficult to be a trooper, when your head feels like it weighs a ton. Tip forward or backward too much & you feel like you will lose your balance. TIMBER!
Feeling woozy & can't stand too long or I feel like I will fall/ faint.
I feel so damn thirsty! A congested nose is bad, but a runny nose (feels nonstop) is worse. It doesn't let you work. My insensible losses are increased. Normally breathing has a negligible amount of water insensible losses. That changes when you can't breathe thru your nose & have to become a mouth breather.

Did you know newborns are obligate nose breathers up to a certain age? They don't know to breath thru their mouths if their noses are congested or blocked (or being pinched shut by someone cruel). That's why suctioning their noses at birth is so vital.

Anyways, went on a tangent, i feel like I have to drink water every hour. Fever also increases insensible losses but luckily no fever for me. Just another viral URI that I must give time to pass.

Reminds me of the time I was oncall for the hospital about a year ago. I had another viral URI, but unfortunately was oncall (sleeping overnight at the hospital). Felt pretty much like I do now, but maybe more mucus was involved. I felt bad for the patients since I was a walking germ ready to cause havoc with those unlucky to encounter me. Although I probably looked silly, I decided to wear a mask (like surgeons do) to contain my infectiousness. Sick but not sick enough to call in sick. It would mean another poor resident would have to replace me if I didn't come in. The mask was a good idea since I had to get close to examine any new admissions that night. I would have hated to add one more thing to someone's medical problem list.

Problem list:
Diabetes
HTN
acute MI
drvodka URI

I think I actually had an east coast bound plane to catch the next morning. That must of been a beautiful sight - deranged, sleep deprived, mocosienta (?) resident at the ticket counter. No, I didn't have the surgical mask on at the airport. They would have thought I had SARS and quarantined me. Flying "post call" is not a pleasant experience but I had to do that most of the time. The bastards would put me "oncall' the night before my vacation started. I would have preferred to be "oncall" the day after my vacation ended. Oh well, I voiced my concerns but it continued to happen & not just to me (other residents as well).

Well, off to drink more water. Maybe I'll drain Lake Michigan by tomorrow evening.
Damn, I have the work's Christmas party this weekend. Open bar! Won't be drinking much alkihol if I'm still feeling this way. One drink might be enough to make me weak in the knees. Probably should wipe the keyboard down too before I go water seeking. Reduce casualties - Contain the situation.