pregnant with pharyngitis

I just came back to work from 1½ days of sick leave. My throat suddenly started to hurt from Monday night whenever I coughed and swallowed; Tuesday morning when I woke up to get ready from work, I felt a bit weak, but still felt I was well enough to go to the office. By 9am, I was coughing non-stop (and my throat hurt every time), so I scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist, and informed my bosses and colleagues that most probably I wouldn’t return until Thursday.

My appointment was scheduled for 11am, but as I was riding in the taxi, I received a call from the hospital asking if it was possible for me to arrive sooner (most probably because the doctor didn’t have any more patients). I answered that I was already on my way, and when I arrived a few minutes later, I was called in almost immediately after I had registered. After telling the doctor my symptoms, he looked in my mouth and down my throat, checked if I had a fever (my temperature was normal), and felt the sides of my head and neck if they hurt (a bit). He said I had acute pharyngitis (or in layman’s tems: sore throat), and while he was writing notes on the forms, I requested for him to give me a sick leave certificate, and if possible for that day until the next. He just nodded and said that he’ll inform his nurse to do it. After that, he asked me to wait outside and his nurse would take care of me. A few minutes later, the nurse took me to a room to check my weight and blood pressure. And after that, she gave me the sick leave certificate for 2 days (yes!) and prescription of medicines.

I was a bit hesitant to go to the pharmacy for the medicine (because I’m pregnant and I don’t want to take anything that could harm Baby Tummy), but since the doctor and nurse were informed that I was pregnant and I figured they knew what they were doing, I went anyway. And besides, this check-up was covered by my insurance so at least I wouldn’t have to pay for anything.

At home, I had lunch when my daughter arrived from nursery. I was expecting her to be happy that I was the one waiting for her, but as soon as she stepped off the bus and saw me, her face became sad as if she wanted to cry. I thought she was upset because Ate Cel wasn’t there, but it turns out she just wanted to act all kawawa because she had accidently tripped at school and the impact hurt her hand (she wasn’t hurt in a major way and no one pushed her; it was just wrong footing). Drama!

Anyway, as I was saying, we had lunch together and just before we settled for an afternoon nap, I checked the 3 boxes of different medicines that I was supposed to take because the pharmacist told me that I had to take them after meals. They were Avalox, Dolgit 400, and Panadol Advance. It’s a good thing I read the leaflets (or whatever you call those papers that come in the boxes with the medicines) before taking any of them. Apparently, Avalox isn’t supposed to be taken at all during pregnancy. The Dolgit 400 is safe during the first 6 months of pregnancy, but not during the last trimester. And as for the Panadol Advance, I didn’t bother to check anymore because I had to take 2 pieces 3 times during the day for 3 days; it may be safe, but no way was I going to take that much. Gusto kong balikan yung doktor para magreklamo, pero since that meant going back to the hospital and wasting my time and money on taxi fare, I decided against it.  Buti na lang talaga sagot ng insurance ang mga gamot dahil almost Dhs200 ang mga yun.  So, in short, I didn’t take any of the medicines; I just rested, drank lots of water, gargled with warm water and salt, and ate fresh fruits.

So far, I haven’t felt any better or worse (which can be either a good thing or bad thing, depending on how you look at it) compared to how I felt last Tuesday; but my coughing has minimized and I was able to take some rest from work and not spread the virus...although my voice has become a bit husky (yeah, bedroom voice! hahaha). I’ve informed my colleagues to try to stay away from me so that they won’t get what I have, and just call me on my extension or send me an e-mail if they need something; but there are some (like the person who we jokingly accused to have spread it to me and a few others) who are stubborn and prefer to talk face to face. I’m thinking of wearing a mask (you know, like the ones they use in the hospital) to make sure I don’t spread it around the workplace, but no one’s been giving me a hard time yet, so we’ll see. Anyway, at least it’s the last day of the work week today and it’s our 2-days off this weekend, so hopefully I’ll get plenty of rest. I just hope my daughter doesn’t get the virus from me and Baby Tummy won’t get affected.