Employment Status?

Apparantly some special kind of germ jumped in my body.  It's been over a week, and I'm still sick. Oh the cold chills, cold to the bone, achy feeling is all gone....but for the last several days, almost a week now, it's been a sore throat, with swelling on the left side.

Yesterday I called in for an appointment to our family doc, so they scheduled me for 9 am today.  Except last night I felt like the swelling was getting worse, and I felt like my airway was closing off.  So my DH's friend K came up to sit with the kids while DH rushed me to the ER.  Before we left, K asked if he could pray for me, and I was more than happy to have prayers!

We weren't that long in the ER, a swab that came back negative and one prescription later, and we were on our way home.  My BP was slightly elevated, and the nurse was a little freaked out by it, but the ER doc told her it was most likely my anxiety making it high, due to my fear of suffocating on my own swollen neck.  I was advised to keep my morning appointment, which  I did.

Normally I don't look forward to going to the doctor's office, but today's visit, well, I wouldn't have cared if it had taken up 2 hours!!   Today, I had to fill out "new patient" paperwork, even though I wasn't "technically" a new patient.  I never go to our Family Practictioner unless something is wrong.  Which translates to "tried home remedies for a week, nothing worked".   So, it had been so long since my last visit, that they'd put away my file.  Filed in - who knows where - so a new file was created.  All the filling out of name, birthday, spouse, contact in case of emergency, medical history...and Employer. 

Employer.  I always write in self employed, and hope no one asks what I do.  Today, I wasn't so lucky.  She asked me.  Almost right away, and then she validated me.  When she asked me what I do,  I replied, "I raise chickens and goats and bees" and I was cringing,  because here I am telling a professional, who works a "real job" that I'm just a "farmer".  I followed with "we don't make alot of money, but it's enough to get by on, and it feeds us."   I waited for her to give me the "you need to get a job" speech that I get from some people, the ones who think we need more money than we have, because we have six kids...the ones who think we are just sitting here, sucking up welfare, and not doing anything. (To those people, and I think you know who you are, I say come help shovel out the manure piling up in the barn.  Come sling the axe to chop some wood, help repair fence, etc. Please, come spend a week here...I'll show you what sitting around and doing nothing is...)

She replied, "I have goats, chickens, and bees, too. I think you're doing things right." 

*thud* 

She followed that up with, "Don't ever let anyone make you think you're lazy. Farming is not lazy."

I told her I chose to do the farm thing, because I was selfish and wanted to be with my kids. She replied that she didn't think that was selfish at all.

Who would ever have thought that a trip to the doctor for a swollen throat would turn into 45 minutes of farm discussion, sharing of ideas, and passing of farm related information?  She didn't bat an eye, or even lecture me, when I said I was raising LaMancha's for milk.  Raw milk, I told her.  She nodded her head in agreement and said "I have nigi dwarves."

She also has bees, and a flock of buff orpingtons!  

We had a short conversation on how awesome your own raw, fresh honey is.  She also told me about beek'ing classes that will be starting up soon.  She gave me a few FB links to look up, and told me about some meetings that will be starting up soon for local farmers. 

Then she finally gets around to checking out my throat, asking what the ER doc prescribed, decided she didn't like what he had prescribed, and changed my meds and dosage.  THANK YOU!  12 hours, 2 dosages, 2 ibuprofen, 2 showers, and a soak in the tub, later and I am already feeling TONS better!

As I was leaving with my new prescription clutched in my hand, she said to me, "Don't worry about those people who only think of money.  We'll see how they are when that money isn't worth anything, and eggs are the new currency!"  

My follow up appointment is on Monday.  I cannot wait!