My never ending affair with Myco

Butt-ugly bug

Myco isn't some sexy Latino lover by any stretch of the imagination, unfortunately. It's short for mycoplasma, the annoying bacteria that has been eating me alive the past week. And it's not any ordinary bacteria, mind you. It doesn't have a cell wall (freak), which makes it impervious to most antibiotics.

Back in 2008, I had a really bad encounter with it. It left me sick as a dog for two weeks, three kilos lighter and no thanks to our penchant for sharing food, I infected three other colleagues in the process.

It's supposed to give you a period of immunity after you recover from it, but guess what, Myco has decided to pay me another visit almost two years later. Like seriously, what were the chances?! Lightning doesn't strike twice? My ass!!!

I had no idea because the last time, I didn't have flu symptoms, just bouts of fever that came and went for over a week, crazy body aches, extreme fatigue and lightheadedness. I think I paid four visits to the doctors before they finally figured out what was wrong. They tested for dengue and whatnot, but just couldn't figure it out.

This time, it started exactly a week ago. I had a mild cough last Sunday and by evening, a sore throat and fever were threatening. I was totally ill on Monday and Tuesday, but it was deadline week, so in between medication, long naps and fever, I was desperately trying to submit stories. I was back to work on Wednesday and due to the backlog of work, I was in the office till the wee hours trying to finish up. I developed the sniffles on Thursday and by the time Friday rolled round, I was feeling like death warmed over again, so I asked the boss to let me off the latter half of the day.

After paying another visit to the doctor, she took a blood test that confirmed I was positive for mycoplasma. She changed my antibiotics to some really kick-ass crazy expensive ones ($6 a pop), which seem to be working. I'm still coughing and nasal, but the throat hurts less and I feel much less awful. The cough mixture is awesome, but it knocks me out like a light. I think, on the whole, it was worse the last time, probably because the docs took so damn long to diagnose the problem.

Bern doesn't look too sprightly, so I'm not sure if he's caught anything from me, but I'm plying him with vitamins and lozenges and hopefully that should stave off anything he might have caught from me. Mycoplasma is apparently more common than we think it is. Even though it's got a scary name, it's not life-threatening as far as I know, but it can really suck you dry. So if you're having horrible body aches and just feel like the pits for almost a week and your doctor can't seem to figure out what's wrong, try asking for a blood test for this naughty bug. It'll make you look like a total genius and you'll be feeling much better in a jiffy. JT


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