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Ye Gods and little fishies

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Well, time for a bit of a Christmas update.

I spent the evening of the 24th in the Emergency Room with my first ever strep throat.

Since I am, well, me I was ignoring what I thought was an irritating little sore throat.

Turns out that this may not be the best course of action when your “minor sore throat” is, in fact, a “strep throat”.

Seems that strep bugs tend to take being ignored somewhat personally — and will do all manner of unpleasant things to get ones’ attention. In my case, they picked up camp and relocated into my lungs.

This is a Bad Thing, friends and neighbors. Trust me on this one. It does tend to get your attention, though.

Christmas Day was thoroughly, if somewhat woozily, enjoyable. Many gifts were exchanged, and I have come into possession of several novels in Philip McCutchan’s Halfhyde series, a slow cooker, and other sundries.

Another, albeit unexpected, gift came on Christmas Eve by way of somewhere in Indiana, and was my 200,000th visitor. Merry Christmas and thank you.

The LawDog Files haven’t even been around a full year yet, but people have dropped by 200,000 times just to read my little scribblings.

That is very humbling. Again, I thank you all.

After much swearing, throwing of items and fervent sacrifices to the Magic Elf Box, I think I have discovered the secret of adding links. I hope.

New to my Link section should be A Day In The Life of An Ambulance Driver, and long-time Gentle Reader Diamond Mair. Go by and wish them a Happy New Year, if you would.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

LawDog

Well, that's that.
Merry Christmas

24 thoughts on “Ye Gods and little fishies”

  1. If it was Northern Indiana it might have been me. Been lurking and enjoying your writing for a while.

  2. You know what they say Dawg – treated with the proper course of antibiotics, strep throat can be cleared up in about seven days. If you ignore it, it may linger for as long as…a week. ;)You must have been unlucky enough to catch some out-of-the-ordinary cooties.

    Growing up as a redneck and a medic, my immune system is now powerful enough to attack squirrels in the back yard. Couple years back, I had the aches and a low-grade fever for three days. Turned out it was Ebola…;)

  4. I got lucky….my kid had a bad sore throat so I took him in. They diagnosed strep, then the Doctor asked how I was feeling. I said I’d just started to notice a tickle in my throat this morning so he checked me out and wrote scripts for both of us. AND ALL THIS FOR ONLY 1 CO-PAY!!!!! I’m sure I’ve exhausted my year long supply of Doctor and Insurance Company luck.

  5. Had something like that, turned into double walking pnuemonia. Spent the night propped up in a chair, so I wouldn’t drown in my sleep! Unfortunately, the next day I thought, well, it’s called walking. Why not? Drove to work, walked between buildings. Baad idea! Got a trip to the ER for my troubles. Fortunately, I actually made it inside before totally collapsing. If I had dropped in the parking lot, they’d have awarded me a toe-tag for stupidity,(First Class).

  6. Nice to see another Hoosier reads your blog. I was going to claim credit for that 200,000 hit; but at this juncture it would be ungentlemanly of me to do so.

    I hope you feel well shortly.

  8. Hope you’re feeling better already LawDog!

    Way back when, in High School, I did something similar. Felt bad all day, rode 3 miles home on my bike and found myself staring at something brown. Turned out to be the carpet. Felt much better the next day when I got to a Doc who said he’d never seen anyone with Strep that bad who could move before. He decided that since I was already feeling better to just give me antibiotics rather than hospitilization. Good choice – everything cleared right up.

    Say, now that we know you’ll live, any Nana updates?

    Oh, and I think all those hits are people looking for the end of the Pink Gorilla Suit story. 😉

  9. A very wise Doctor once told us:
    “There are two kinds of illnesses & diseases: vertical & horizontal. With the first one, you can keep moving but the second knocks you flat.”

    Having had pneumonia myself back when I was 40 pounds lighter, I can imagine what you’re going through. I hope you get an IV drip of Mamma Lawdog’s Chicken Soup & feel better soon.

    Happy New Year, too!

  10. I would be willing to wager that at least 5K of those hits are folks looking for the 2nd part of the ‘stache story. At least when I do a two parter it’s not seperated by MONTHS.

  11. Raise your hand if you want to join me in holding Lawdog’s antibiotics hostage until he tells us the rest of the Mustache story!

    OK, just kidding. I hope you feel better soon.

    Untreated strep throat is very serious — and can lead to Rheumatic fever. This happened to my dad when he was young and it resulted in damage to his heart.

  12. “I would be willing to wager that at least 5K of those hits are folks looking for the 2nd part of the ‘stache story. At least when I do a two parter it’s not seperated by MONTHS.”

    Well, he’s got a bunch of folks coming back to see ends tied up, but he’s also got folks coming back to see what he’s gonna tell next. Hey, I’m one of ’em.

    mustanger98 on THR

  13. Just remember, Pneumovax shots last for 4-5 years and you can get it at the same time you get your flu shot. AD, I know all about those hyperactive immune systems as I am posessed by one, myself. When it’s not trying to kill me as a ‘non-self’ organism it keeps the vermin out of my yard and the peddlers from my doorstep.

    Regards,
    Rabbit.

  14. Thank you for your very gracious ‘nudge’ to my blog ………………… and take ALL the antibiotics prescribed – try to not go out on patrol at least until you’re done with the anti-b’s – stress, which is a given in police work, CAN cause relapses/medications not working as effectively as they should ……………….. we’re collectively looking forward to the resolutions of the stories hanging, AND, many more!
    Semper Fi’
    DM

  15. Coulda been worse…I used to work with a guy who, all of a sudden, got this real nasty bug – so bad that he could barely work half a day. After a couple of weeks, he just stopped even coming in to work. Finally, almost 2 months after his symptoms first started, he went in to Urgent Care.

    Turns out he had a throat infection…but the virus was CHLAMYDIA.

    When he called me at work to let me know, the first question I HAD to ask(well, after I managed to stop laughing) was, “So…how DEEP in your THROAT was the infection, anyways?”

    Be thankful for small blessings, ‘Dawg…

  16. Strep is nasty stuff. I’m extremely susceptible to it, & every time I get it, it seems to want to turn into pneumonia.

  17. Take care of that strep – a 28 year old cousin died in his sleep after ignoring his strep for 6 weeks. He’d gone to work that night. As a chef. Eek.
    Glad your holiday was enjoyable. Congrats on your 200000th hit – your blog is one of the most eminently readable out there. Best wishes for the coming year and your speedy recovery.

  18. Lawdawg –

    Recently read your ouvre after periodically following your writings over on TFL…PLEASE record these in a volume for post-retirement publishing.

    That said…as a strep veteran, I’m a big fan of hot soup…hot SPICY soups…as it always cruds up my lungs and sinuses.

    Garlic Chicken Soup of Doom

    2 Large Cans Campbells Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup*
    1 lb Boneless Chicken Breasts, cubed to ½” to ¼”
    1 8 oz. Can peas
    1 8 oz. Can carrots
    1 8 oz. Can sliced potatoes
    1 8 oz Can Kidney Beans
    2½ c. Chopped Garlic
    6 tbsp Oregano
    6 tbsp Basil
    Chili Powder
    Tabasco Sauce
    Salt
    Olive Oil

    Coat the bottom of a large fry pan with olive oil. Add 3 tbsp of chopped garlic, 2 tbsp Oregano and Basil, and sauté over low heat until garlic shows just a hint of brown, stirring occasionally. Add chopped chicken breasts, stir vigorously until intermingled thoroughly with spices, then continue to stir occasionally until the chicken is cooked white all through.

    Meanwhile, drain all vegetables and place in large crock pot (slow cooker) with Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup. Add water to within 2″ of top of pot. Throw in a couple of handfuls of pasta to thicken, if desired. Add remaining garlic and spices at this time, put crock pot on high setting.

    When chicken is sautéed white all through, dump entire fry pan contents into crock pot, stirring in. Simmer for at least one hour.
    Returning, take test sip. Add garlic until the soup begins to taste salty. Then add another tablespoon.

    Now, add chili powder and Tabasco GENTLY, a bit at a time, until when you take a test sip it goes down smoothly…but you feel a distinct heated bite at the back of your throat after imbibing. (Note, if you over do, just let the soup boil down a bit, add some more water and pasta, let that boil down – repeat as needed…and all will be well).

    *substitute any preferred chicken stock, and if substituting fresh vegetables rather than canned, be sure to increase cook time for proper spice saturation.

    Good Luck, Dawg…and umm (shameless plug) http://www.pinkpistols.org 🙂

  20. I had a bad sore throat a few years ago. It, and the other crud, lasted for about four weeks. A security guard, after I explained my problem, recomended raw mustard green leaves. I tried it and damned if the crud didn’t end within two days. I don’t know if it cured it, but it sure drained everything that drains.

  22. Thanks for the link recommendation, LawDog. I’ve linked Ambulance Driver and credited you.

    Hope you feel better soonest.

  23. there are certain health that we must not take for granted. in your case something that seemed to be just simple turned out into something complicated. lesson is act in an instant before it worsens.

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