Day 286 ½ – (AD 716 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – 10 Symptoms = 97 Conditions

Good Day,

As I mentioned yesterday I think allergy season has begun in Tampa. But then again I could be wrong, but today’s Pollen Levels’ forecast is set at “Low”. Okay.

Yesterday I cycled 21.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. Did some laundry and then worked in the garden and the front yard. I made supper which included a plate of Montreal Dry Garlic Spareribs, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, and Spicy Stir-Fried Zucchini, Summer Squash, and Onions.

Then it started. I began sneezing…and sneezing, and sneezing. The Thames or the Mississippi Rivers appeared to have made a detour through my nose. I carried around two boxes of Aloe and E-induced Kleenex. And before I finally went to bed I finished off one complete box. Achoo! Gesundheit.

I took a couple of nasal-dripping tablets. I tried to settle in for the night… Achoo, achoo, achoo, honk, honk. All I did was toss and turn for all the seven hours that I tried to sleep. I finished off the 2nd box of Kleenex. Achoo. Drip, drip, drip. Honk, honk, honk. Yes I sound like a flock of geese. I took another pair of tablets.  And did you know that it is extremely hard to hold a mouse steady when you sneeze?

This morning after I woke up, which of course I am not sure if I got any type of sleep, my blood sugar spiked up to 132 mg/dL. My temperature is just above the normal 98.6° F. I feel like shit. And I wondered if I should pedal on my Schwinn 170.

And I listed my 10 foremost symptoms – general difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice, post nasal drip, sore throat, body aches and pains, decreased appetite, night sweats, runny nose, sneezing, and sneezing, and sneezing, and nasal congestion.

I thought about calling my primary doctor, but hell this is the Holiday Season and I am sure that I’ll be told to “come on into the office” and “here are two tablets if it gets worse go to the Emergency Room…and if not, call us back in the new year.”

So I took my symptoms and decided to diagnose myself at WebMD. The site has a somewhat neat function called WebMDsymptonchecker. Hell I believe in doing things electronically but this is where I am flabbergasted. I entered my 10 perceived symptoms. Dr. AI, at WebMD crunched my data and came back with a, not one, not two, not even 3…but 97 possible conditions. Am I that sick? Damn this is a hypochondriac’s dream site. I could have 97 potential disorders and illnesses. That is 9-tee-seven!

And they include –

common cold, hay fever, indoor allergens, influenza (flu), acute sinusitis, viral syndrome, dust exposure, viral pharyngitis, allergic reaction, laryngitis, tonsillitis, heartburn/GIRD, nasal congestion, mononucleosis, mumps, nonallergic rhinitis, peritonsillar abscess, thyroid cancer, goiter, constipation, depression, epiglottitis, esophageal cancer, exercise of physical activity, foreign object in the nose, gastroenteritis, hypothyroidism, nasal polyps, panic attack, scarlet fever, Syogren’s syndrome, smoke exposure, strained voice (vocal chords), thermal burn of mouth or tongue, tuberculosis, chronic sinusitis, whooping cough, stroke, bleeding esophageal varices, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, cat-scratch disease, cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, Coxsackie virus infection, dermatomyositis, diabetic ketoacidosis, drug allergy, eating disorder, emphysema, giardiasis, grief reaction, helicobacter pylon infection, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hyperthyroidism, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal ileus, lung cancer (non small cell), lung cancer (small cell), Lupus, Lyme disease, myasthenia gravis, narcotic abuse, porphyria, sarcoidosis, schizophrenia, scieroderma, swallowed object, syphilis (male), thalassemia, thyroid nodules, toxic shock syndrome, transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke), vocal cord polyp, throat cancer, West Nile virus, tetanus, acute kidney failure, Barrett esophagus, bird (avian) flu, esophagitis, hernia, tick bite, Chagas disease, small intestine cancer, typhoid fever, mesenteric lymphadenitis, CREST syndrome, endocarditis, renal cell (kidney) cancer, Ricin poisoning, shingles (herpes zoster), strep throat, glycogen storage disease, Pompe disease (late-onset)

I then poured myself a cup of hot tea with honey and lemon, sat down at the computer, wrote my morning pages, sneezed a couple more times, blew my nose and wrote my update to Jim’s Trek.

Oh yeah, have I reached the pinnacle age where I am now content and allowed to continue on and on about my self-diagnosed and medical ailments. I was so looking forward to that new stage on my journey through live.

Then I read the fine print disclaimer at the bottom of the WebMD page.

And so I am taking today off pedaling to just rest back a bit.

This is my 758th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 58,051 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim