Strepping Out
August 6, 2005
The entire day yesterday consisted of long, fitful sleep punctuated by bleary wakefulness. The culprit: strep throat. For some strange reason that nobody can figure out yet, our family has been especially susceptible to the bacteria, especially this year. Since February all four of us have been bitten by the bug four times. This time, my fifth, I'm so far struggling with it alone—only four days after ending my last round of antibiotics. My kids meanwhile have been put on a "maintenance dose" of penicillin that they will need to take until April 2006.
A few friends have asked if we're going to have our tonsils removed, but our doctors don't think that the procedure would have much if any effect. We have disinfected the house numerous times and replaced our toothbrushes. We're just not sure what else we can do.
The whole situation has gotten rather comical, and it would be even more so if it weren't also unpleasant and inconvenient. The good news is that by now we are well attuned to the symptoms, so we can have our doctors call in the prescriptions right away when we feel another case of strep coming on. This time my doctor didn't even bother bringing me in to gag me with a q-tip. Ah, progress!
Comments (5)
Hey Karl,
5x! That is nuts. Our whole family came down with some sinus stuff this past week at the same time. We are getting over it, but I am still talking like a frog. On an unrelated note, I have posted all of the Swedberg family photos I have to my flickr account. I can't remember if I sent you the original versions but the high-res versions are there to download for you or anyone else.
Here's to feeling better!
~Josh
Aug 6, 2005 ; 11:47 AM
Karl I am going to take a guess. Did you ever change your air filter? Did you ever have your HVAC ducts cleaned? Maybe a bird, bat or a squirrel died in your stuff. Sounds like something is in the air that is getting you guys sick all the time.
Aug 6, 2005 ; 1:10 PM
ah, drat that dried up bat.
-a
Aug 8, 2005 ; 8:05 AM
For those of you who just stumbled upon this entry and its comments, the bat Dean is referring to was memorialized in a previous entry. Yes, we did have our air filter replaced and our HVAC ducts cleaned recently. Good questions, though. Nicole, usually the symptoms last about a day after I start taking antibiotics. This time they lasted two days and were more severe than they've been the last couple times. I'm guessing that the rebound time is roughly the same for anyone who takes antibiotics for strep, but I don't have any evidence to back up the conjecture. Josh, thanks so much for the link to the family pictures on flickr!
Aug 8, 2005 ; 9:20 AM
Oh, KARL!!
Not AGAIN!! What a pain in the arse--er, the throat as it were. Do the meds take as long as ususal to provide relief? Rather, do you feel better more quickly than the average "I-don't get strep-every-other-day" person would?
I am sorry this keeps happening to you! If there is the samllest of chances that you could prevent the re-occurrance of it via the tonsillectomy, would you go under the knife?
Anyway, here's to another round of antibiotics and a diet of broth and sorbet...
Nicole
Aug 6, 2005 ; 11:29 AM