I told you I was sick.

I am sick. This is a very novel circumstance, for I am rarely sick. But I am feeling slightly unwell. I can still manage to do everything that needs to be done, however, the only difference is the constant complaining from yours truly at how horrible I feel and how every movement is agony. I'm not even in any form of agony. I just have a sore throat. However, seeing as I have what has been described as "an immune system of an ox," I rarely get ill. When I do, I don't know how seriously to take it. So when I woke up on Saturday feeling a little bit run-down, I realised that that was not the same state I was in when I went to sleep, and something had clearly changed within. How drastically, I do not know.

Today it is Wednesday, and I still have the sore throat, and the stiff neck. The muscle aches are gone, as are the headaches, but symptoms are persisting. Now is the awkward stage of how long do I leave it before I make and appointment with the local village physic for some tonic. I never go to the doctor! They just dish out drugs, and for some reason, I like the idea that my body can beat the virus on its own. The last thing I want is to find out is that I have "a throat infection" and will have to take "antibiotics" because that is the sickness of weak skankbots I went to school with, who were able to take up to an entire week off school to recover from their "throat infection." Up until this point, I thought that the Throat Infection was make-believe. But after four days of painfull swallowing, I'm starting to think otherwise, and I decided that something ought to be done. What ought to be done? WebMD of course!

Now, my first hurdle is to determine whether I have cold-like symptoms, or flu-like symptoms. I do not have a runny nose, but I do have general aches and pains, so I am leaning towards the latter. (How exciting! I have never had the flu before, let alone in the middle of Summer!) Next was to ascertain what exactly the problem is. Now with the lovely diagnose-yourself capabilities of this website, I have discovered that I have some form of lymphatic cancer. Or just a sinus issue. But most likely, what I am dealing with is lymphatic cancer and I should speak to my doctor.

Not only am I now terrified of certain death from a sore throat, there is also a lovely and thoughtful quiz that the kind people at WebMD have put together, entitled "Are you depressed?" to which I discover - surprise surprise - I am at the "higher risk" end of the scale, all because 'I've lost interest in the activities I used to enjoy (I once liked to run, and go on dates), I feel tired almost every day, I have problems sleeping, I'm either sleeping too much or staying awake at night (because I go to sleep at inhuman hours of the morning because I stay up late writing this), my appetite has changed (it's too hot to eat), I'm not eating enough, or I'm eating too much (healthy eating patterns are near-impossible), I have trouble concentrating (product of the 21st Century), I'm having frequent headaches, stomach problems, muscle pain, or back problems (I'm sick, I told you).' Lucky that I stumbled upon this website, for all these 'problems' I have been having are merely symptoms of depression, and are not mere side-effects from living. I must be severly unhappy and I did not realise. I think a lot of my friends are too, because,

"Depression shows up in many different ways. People often lose interest in favorite activities, have sleep problems, gain or lose weight, feel irritable or angry, or are in physical pain for unexplained reasons. Feeling guilty, anxious, or having difficulty concentrating are also common signs of depression. Fortunately, there are many ways to treat depression, and more than 80% of people treated for depression improve within a year."

This description could be fitted to many of my close friends as well! Who would've thought we were so unhappy! We will talk with our doctors, and we will get through this together.

Some more interesting reading courtesy of WebMD, if you hadn't had enough already.. And I thought I was just hungry.