Wait. What? You've got to be kidding.

Slowly over the past month or so I've been becoming more and more fatigued. Ok, maybe a bit longer but who's keeping track? I don't have time for that shit. As is normal for me I just push past it and keep going. With the fatigue came some aches and pains. I never put too much though in to it so just put it out of my head. I'm too busy to worry about me. I've got too much going on to let a little ache and tiredness hold me down. Nah. Suck it up buttercup! You can rest tomorrow! Of course we know what happens. Tomorrow arrives and I've not paid attention to my aches and pains. I just pop some Aleeve and drink more coffee. 

Coincidentally, I had found a tick on one of the goobers a few weeks ago. It may have been longer I don't know. I don't have time to keep track of that shit. I found it and flushed it. It wasn't attached so I passed it off as a nuisance. So now a few days ago a very small insignificant rash popped up on my back. It never itched. It never bothered me. I found it while bathing. I was immediately skeeved out because it felt like ringworm and omg I'm such a clean freak where the eff did I pick this up? I had some cream left over from a rash I developed a few years ago on my arm that also was unexplained. I dab some on the new rash and kept moving.

I woke the other morning with a horrible, horrible headache. I had a hard time finding a comfortable spot but when I did I was able to sleep long enough for the headache to go away. I thought with the aches and pains and normal icky feelings I might have caught some kind of sickness that would run it's course. Another day passes and I'm feeling so bad. I'm just not happy and I hurt and I wanted to just curl up in the fetal position and hibernate like a tired old grizzly bear in a cave. I was given a directive to make a hot toddy and go to bed-which is what I did. I woke this morning and felt no better. Why do I hurt so much? My joints are aching. My knees. My hips. My elbows. My neck is stiff. I feel a little upper respiratory niggle that has me on the verge of coughing but not quite there yet. My head is congested and it hurts too. That though may be just allergies or I'm having a psychosomatic response. Nothing a Claritin D can't fix. And it did. I decided to forgo the Aleeve today to see if I could manage. Eh. I got through half the day and I was miserable. Which leads to the next directive - see a doctor or go to Urgent Care. I opted for Urgent Care. It takes forever to get in to see my beloved primary doctor. 

I finish up my work day and head straight to the Urgent Care center. I feel like a dumbass because I'm not really sick but I feel like crap and I'm too impatient to wait three weeks for an opening with my primary. All the correlating facts of aches, joint pain, headache, stiff neck, and fatigue partnered with seeing a tick and having a freaky pea sized rash on my back had me thinking I picked up some kind of tick born virus or something. I dunno! I'm not a doctor! So here I am telling the nurse what's going on. She's asking me some general questions then tells me the doctor will be in shortly. I feel so dumb. Moments later in comes the doctor. Oh, by the way my blood pressure is always, ALWAYS, a normal 120/80. These machines they use now are WRONG! How the hec did I have a reading of 157/90? Then a second of 142/82? The machine blood pressure thingy is junk. And totally wrong. Wrong. 

This doctor has a very thick Spanish accent which honestly I understood perfectly. I did find myself speaking in a sort of spanglish with him which he chuckled at and encouraged me to continue. We discussed all my symptoms and correlating facts of timing and observation for a few minutes. He examines me. And tells me there is a very slim to none chance I picked up something from a tick bite and the rash could be ringworm but it doesn't itch which is the primary symptom. So ringworm and tick disease is ruled out. Now this guy is asking about family history of arthritis or rheumatism. What? Holy crap! No. There is no history that I know of. Why? So he begins to exam my joints. Mainly my knees and elbows since that is where I felt most pain today. Yesterday it was my elbows and my hands. The day before it was my knees and hips. Yeah, I'm a mess. Anywho...dude presses a spot on my elbow and I squealed. I had to resist throat punching him. then he did the same on my knee. I squealed again. I had to resist kicking his baby maker. I'm like, what the hell is going on here with the manhandling? 

Are you ready for this? He suspects I have rheumatoid arthritis and recommends I see a specialist for further testing and gave me a script for Celebrex. Oh dear. The fatigue and aching are a part of rheumatism and the congestion with upper respiratory whatever is probably what is going around and will pass in a few days if left to run its course. Great.  

I now am conscious of each ache, pain, stiffness of my joints, and the chronic feeling of being tired. I feel like I aged 10 years in one hour at the Urgent Care. I'm old and now I feel it.