I'm So Sick Of This!

For the fifth straight night, I woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Thankfully, for the first time this week, I was able to get back to sleep.

I have been fighting some type of head cold/flu for about a week and when the doctor prescribes rest and you can’t rest, that’s not a good thing.

I went back to see the good doctor this morning and she said my “viral infection” had become a “bacterial infection”.

All I know is that I feel crappy.

This was the second time I had seen the doctor this week. The first time she prescribed a cough syrup. Today, I got a stronger cough syrup and an antibiotic pill.

With my wife working, we are one of the fortunate ones who still have health insurance, but even with that, this little inconvenience can add up.

Two doctor visits -- $20.

First round of prescriptions -- $7.

Second round of prescriptions -- $37.

Over the counter meds -- $15.

Get out the calculator, carry the one -- that’s $79, so far.

Thankfully, that $79 is not going to break us at the moment, but it’s still $79.

That’s a shopping cart full of groceries.

Two weeks of the heating bill.

A couple of tanks of gas.

A nice night out for the wife and I...

...or a little less nice night out for the wife and I and the three kids.

And we are the ones WITH health insurance.

I am very fortunate that I cannot truly relate to those of my colleagues who have a real hardship.

I can’t even imagine how the millions of people in this country, currently without a job and with something MUCH worse than my head cold are doing it.

While writing this blog on my journey through unemployment, I have never asked for sympathy and I’m not about to start now.

I am just writing about my new life.

One of the benefits of being unemployed, is that I didn’t have to call in sick. My wife took the kids to school and I went back to bed.

This illness is more of a nuisance than anything else.

As a parent, there is NOTHING worse than having a sick child. It is the most helpless feeling. But one reward, is getting the opportunity to spend that snuggle time with your child that has seemed to disappear as they get older.

As an adult, being sick is much emptier.

I haven’t been able to do all of the great things that unemployment has provided for me --- working out, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, spending time with the family.

Believe it or not, I actually love doing all of those things, not just the last one.

Then again, I also haven't had the strength to worry about the things that make me unhappy.

$79 and a week's worth of coughing is a small price to pay for the life that I have.

I just look forward to being able to sleep in until at least 4:00am.

I’m going back to bed now.