I went to sleep not long after writing the last post, and was feeling terrible when I woke up this morning-- fever, chills, aches and nausea were still there. With a little help, I managed to drag myself out of bed and into the car, where Allan drove me to the ER of Salem Hospital just a couple miles away.

I wanted very much to take an ibuprofen or Tylenol so I could managed to sit upright in the waiting room, but didn't want to reduce my fever and end up giving a false reading on my vitals.

We arrived a little after 10am and were checked in efficiently and speedily. As soon as I got called by the nurse, everything moved on rapidly. I registered a temperature of 101.9 degrees, whew! I was taken to an examination room, whisked to X-ray for some chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia, and then finally saw the doctor, who prescribed me some azythromycin, an antibiotic.

It wasn't even 12pm by the time I was discharged, prescription in hand. And I have to say-- it was the smoothest and fastest process I'd ever seen, not to mention the friendliest service. Everyone we encountered along the way was very friendly and courteous. So it was quite a change from the typical experience in LA, with hours of waiting and unfriendly, sometimes downright rude service.

We hit the local Wal-Mart Supercenter along the way to get lunch, fill my prescription and re-stock our supply of fruit, since I still don't have much of an appetite for anything. And even there, everyone was friendly, from the pharmacy to the checkout lines.

We got back to the hotel and I took a nap before Allan took Todd to the seafood cafe next door, watched a bit of TV, and then slept some more... let's hope I can get to sleep at a decent hour after this ;-)

I'm faring a bit better now. I am still exhausted and weak, mostly from not eating much all day, but I've been staying well hydrated and I think my first dose of medication is starting to kick in. We've decided that, rather than battle 4th of July traffic to San Francisco tomorrow, we are going to stay yet another night here in Salem. Allan's cousin managed to get a hold of him earlier today, and we'll be going to a BBQ at his house tomorrow. Guess this town is really growing on us ;-) Hopefully I'll be doing well enough tomorrow evening to make it to the BBQ with the boys!