Ugh. So I had such a bad coughing fit on my way to school on Monday that I decided to take the afternoon off and go see a doctor. I went to an Urgent Care and got in right away. The doctor listened to my back and chest and felt around my upper rib cage. He said that I have bronchitis and a broken rib. He wanted to know why I didn't come in when I had the bad cough. I guess I just figured it came along with my cold. Plus, who has time to go to the doctor for a cough? I know better now! He gave me a rx for antibiotics and some cough meds. He also sent me for a chest xray. He wanted to make sure my lungs were ok and he told me that the xray probably won't pick up the fracture.
I went for the xray (I only had to wait 10 minutes.) The xrays were painful only because I had to raise my right arm and it hurt so bad! In fact, after the xray I started to feel awful. The pain got worse and I felt very winded just walking to my car. I grabbed lunch at Panera and then went to Target to get my meds. It was rough walking around. I was in so much pain by the time I got the girls and it was quite an effort just to talk.
The drive home was brutal. My rib hurt and I started to feel achy and I had the chills. It felt like I had the flu all of a sudden! Chris wasn't home and it took a long time for me to get the girls in and settled. When he did get home I went straight to bed and just hung out there the rest of the night. In addition to my meds I took Tylenol with codeine. It helped get me to sleep :) This morning I feel better (except my rib still hurts and I get very winded just walking and talking.) Should make for an interesting day of teaching. Ugh.
The doctor said a broken rib takes about a month to heal. The only recommendation he had was to hold my ribs when I cough. Once we get the cough cleared up we should be good to go. I hope that's sooner than later. I hate feeling this way! I want to do nothing but sit still. I'm supposed to go back in 2-7 days if the pain is still there for a CAT scan. Blah.
