Peace of Mind

So, I've been flat in bed or watching daytime television for nearly a week now with some horrible illness. After I had suffered three days of burning fever, aches to keep me awake all night, and delirious dreams when I could sleep, I finally decided to go to the doctor on Monday. I called the nurse before I went to make sure she thought it would be worth it. I didn't want the doctor to say, "Yup, you're sick with something. Now go home and rest." I don't need a doctor to tell me that. I barely managed telling the nurse anything because I had no voice to speak of, so she thought it best I come in possibly for a strep test.

After I managed to get myself there (thank goodness for moms when you're not coherent enough to drive yourself), I finally got in to see the doctor. She asked me a series of questions and said, "Well, would you like to be tested for the flu or for strep? It's possible it's one of those." I had never been presented with options like that. I was kind-of hoping she would just tell me what tests she was going to do. Rather that answer, I deflected and said, "Well, there's not much you can do if it's the flu, right?"

She said there wasn't but then proceeded to convince me that I needed to be tested for the flu. Her argument went something like this, "Well, doing the test will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you've got the flu, and giving everyone else the peace of mind that that's what you've been exposing them to and what they have exposed you to." I wasn't really in the mood, or presence of mind, to argue with her on that. And, hey, who doesn't need a little peace of mind? Besides, I thought maybe she'd do a strep test too, which I would consider beneficial. No one wants to end up with rheumatic fever two weeks down the road.

A few minutes after some guy stuck a Q-tip up my nose, she came back and said, "Congratulations, you have type A influenza. The good news is, it's the more mild version, and you get to be an official flu statistic at the state health department." I felt so privileged--I was official. I celebrated by going straight to the pharmacy to stock up on Sudafed and NyQuil. I'm not sure the knowledge that I had the flu brought the peace of mind she expected to me or my group of fellow sickies, but that NyQuil brought 13 hours of sound sleep that night. That's what I call peace of mind.

So, to all you who feel there may be something keeping you from finding peace, let me suggest being tested for the flu. The doctor says it brings peace of mind, and hey, she's the expert.