Still sick

I have lost my voice entirely, and I have a terribly fierce sore throat. Swollen glands and fever. I think there's a pretty good chance this is strep. One of the other secretaries at my office called in that she had it. I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call me back to let me know if they can fit me in.

The humidifier broke; I need to get another one.

I want pho, dammit. I am determined to get it, somehow, for lunch.

Here's a classic example of the stupidity of our health system

I've mentioned before that Delia is uber flexible. However, that has been causing her some problems in karate: she hyper-extends her joints during her kicks, and this has been giving her pain in her knees.

pazlazuli suggested that we get restrictive braces for her knees to wear to karate class. She happened to have one, size small, which she had gotten for her own son, who needed it briefly, and she passed it on to Delia. Delia tried it and liked it, and asked us to get one for her other leg.

However, we've run into a problem: we can't find one small enough. Delia is a small eleven year old, skinny as a rail, with legs like pipecleaners. I've been to every pharmacy in the area and even a medical supply store. Ordinarily, they only carry "medium" and "large," but even the "small" braces that I've managed to find are too big for Delia's legs. I suggested to Rob that he try stopping by the pharmacy at Children's Hospital. Surely they'd have one the right size, wouldn't they?

So he stopped by the pharmacy and asked. And here we come to the stupid part. Even though you can go into any pharmacy and buy a knee brace for an adult, apparently Children's Hospital is a closed pharmacy and insists that we make an appointment with a doctor and have the doctor write a prescription before they will allow us to purchase one for Delia.

My husband is unemployed and I don't have any money left in my medical savings account for the year. Why the hell should I have to pay a doctor, what $75.00, for a cursory doctor's visit to give me permission to purchase a piece of medical equipment that I can get as an adult without a doctor's say-so?

Well, that's ridiculous. They suggested that we try a sporting goods store. If that doesn't pan out, I guess we'll see if we can special order something with the medical supply company.

Edited to add: Problem has been solved. Thanks, porphyrin!

My appointment

I had my appointment this afternoon. The rapid test was negative for strep, so no antibiotics for me. It's simply a nasty, nasty virus, and I just have to wait it out. Rest, fluids, salt water gargle, etc. She told me I shouldn't expect to go back to work until next week. "Wear fuzzy slippers and have your family wait on you hand and foot," she told me.