Oxygen, please!

The day passed quickly yet slowly. I woke up this morning not feeling any better than yesterday, and possibly slightly worse. Most of the symptoms, while annoying in the combination, were pretty mild--headache, fever/chills, general achiness, sore throat, occasional shoots of pain from my ears, slight cough, and dizziness. Possibly a rash, or that might just be from the heat. But the whole not being able to breathe part was somewhat frightening. I went to work and struggled through my first class. Somehow the adults managed to understand some of what I said, although half the time I didn't understand what I was saying myself.

There was no wait at the doctor's office. He looked in my throat and diagnosed, "mild tonsillitis." Then he listened to my chest (the first time he's done so without a nurse present--after all, it means lifting up my shirt and seeing--gasp--skin, even though just my back). Then his second diagnosis, "mild bronchitis." MILD? I'd hate to have severe bronchitis. Most of my breaths are shallow, and even a deep breath feels like I only get about half the oxygen I normally get. How is my body supposed to heal if it doesn't have adequate oxygen?! Anyway, he went on to give me a little anatomy lesson in how the throat, ears, and nose are connected, thus the related symptoms. He then prescribed the normal colorful packet of drugs--4 this time--Tylenol, an antibiotic, and two anti-somethings (something about bronchial somethings). The typical "drink water many many" advice, then a strange one, considering this is Korea, he said, "bed rest." Yeah right, like my boss will go for that. As I paid, the receptionist told me (in Korean) to come back in a few days. With how my breathing is, I doubt the three days worth of drugs will fix it, so I was already sure that I'd be returning.

At the pharmacy the lady wasn't there to explain the drugs, so the man explained them in Korean. I understood only some of it, so it's good the doctor had already told me how to take them. The man also said something that I didn't quite get, so he made the sleeping motion. Oh, OK, I need to get lots of sleep, OK. At least that's what I thought he said.

Well, I got back to school, ordered lunch, wrote an email to Sandra, ate lunch, waited the half hour, and then took the first dose of medicine just before going into my first class. I made it through the first class, but by the second one I understood what the pharmacist meant--the drugs would MAKE me sleep. I fought to keep my eyes open, dozing a bit as I listened to the kids read. The day passed in a blur. The only thing that stands out is Brandon from the last class, and that's mostly because he was his normal obnoxious self. I hope the kids learned something, because I can't remember what I taught. I've been drinking 2~3 liters of water a day; today it was close to 4. Today there was more rain in the morning, with a beautiful blue sky in the afternoon.