Poked, prodded, mystified

Now I know how the guinea pigs feel! As those of you who know me well would be aware, I've been episodically unwell for the last five or six weeks. I self-diagnosed the cause as Epstein-Barr virus, that is, Glandular Fever. Self-diagnosis is a foolish habit developed by nurses such as myself. Really, we should just get over it and go to the doctor; however, when you are cash-strapped, it can save you quite a bit in doctor's fees... if you are right.

Back to my health issue: At first, it seemed I was correct. My doctor agreed it was probably glandular fever, and then decided to do a blood test just to make sure.

The result? Negative.

This was a little perturbing to my good doctor, because he (and I) really thought he was right! The negative result threw him into desperately-test-for-everything mode, and he proceeded to order a page-full of additional blood tests and analyses. Off I go to pathology again, and get myself pricked, again. He has tested me for everything, not limited to but including malaria, dengue fever, and Ross River fever. He has verified my levels for just about every vitamin and mineral under the sun! And because I still have blood remaining in my body that has not been tested, I have been referred to a specialist, because in the end, neither of us look like being sure of what is wrong.

I will update you in two weeks when I see the doctor again. It's just a good thing I'm not afraid of needles.

Daytime TV

The last three days I’ve been flattened by glandular fever (again). So I found myself watching a heck of a lot of daytime TV. What else is there to do when you’re resting on the couch all day? So I thought I’d give all you hardworking people an insight into what’s on at the moment.

Sunrise/ Today/ 9am/ Mornings with Kerrie-Anne: between 8:30 and about 11 or so, I’ve been channel flicking between these four shows. Funnily enough, two out of these four had Guy Sebastian as a guest, and then he appeared on ‘The Catchup’ later in the day! Interesting… Two of them also interviewed Pauline Hanson, which was ‘eye-opening' to say the least, and today they had that guy on who is saying all that stuff against Pauline Hanson. My verdict: she seemed really, really nervous! Quite unlike the kind of person I thought she was.

Oh yes, and on Monday (I think it was), I saw the tsunami scare as it happened. When I turned on the telly at 9am, channel 9 was in emergency mode, warning about a tsunami that might hit the east coast of Australia at 9:30. Some local councils responded reasonably, but most were saying “What do we do?”. No-one knew whether or not it was bad enough to force everyone to evacuate. Some people refused to leave the beaches, saying they’d come all this way to have a holiday, so they were going to have their day on the beach regardless. Interestingly, channel 9 covered it quite well, but I didn’t hear much from the other channels until it was nearly all over! Pity help us if there is a real tsunami coming one day.

Between 11 and 2 was mainly the news (I saw the news about 6 times each day… It’s funny to see the similarities between all the broadcasts), and often slept because this was the most boring section. Then I would watch ‘The Mole’, some time before 3pm. A bit too exciting for sick little me I must say, but it was way better than the soapies on the other channels.

As for the evenings, it was pot luck. One night I watched game shows all night, as that was all that was on. They were quite good: I like Deal or No Deal, which I see a lot at work anyway, and a new show, ‘1 versus 100’, is quite a good concept. Normally I like to watch crime shows like CSI, but not when I’m alone in the house :)

All in all, an enlightening experience. When one is tired enough to sleep through the boring bits, daytime TV is not life-threatening. But I’ll be glad to escape back to my assignments and blogging, and may I never again hear Kerrie-Anne say “And here’s another idea for you…” (another Demtel-like advertisement, for those of you who are blessed enough to not know what I refer to).