There seems to be a lot of strange health concerns going on lately, both in regards to me and those around me.  For starters, I woke up yesterday morning not feeling too hot.  I ended up going home a little early to get some rest and worked from home today.  I’ve had a fever in the 100s since last night, and it caused me to miss the Gomez/Ben Kweller show at The Beaumont.  Ironically, I had two doctor’s appointments scheduled for today.  The first was a checkup with my pulmonologist to make sure the ol’ lungs were up to par.  I go about every six months just to make sure my breathing is in good shape.  Well, I told them that I had a bit of a fever and had a sore throat and, after looking in my mouth, the doctor told me she wanted to do a throat culture because she thought I may have strep.  We did the culture, and she was kind enough to hook me up with some antibiotics to take in the meantime while she waited to get the test results back in 48 hours. 

The second appointment was my annual checkup with my dermatologist.  When I was young, I used to have to go to the dermatologist for acne problems, but I go now to get my moles checked out.  I have quite a few of them, especially on my scalp.  Thank goodness no one is bald in my family or I’d end up looking like a freak in my later years.  This visit was a little more than a checkup, though, because I noticed some growth a few weeks ago on a mole and it concerned me a little.  I pointed it out to her, and she said it definitely looked like something in which to have some concern.  The crazy part about the whole thing is the location of the mole.  It’s located on my inner thigh in a spot that’s “pretty well hidden”.  To put it bluntly, that part of my leg and the side of my junk are pretty close friends (ladies: please try to refrain from reading that last sentence over and over.  That mental image will just leave you turned on and sexually frustrated)  The doctor also saw a spot on my chest that she thought looked suspicious.  So the doc then give me two shots of Novocain at each spot and used a razor to collect a sample of each mole.  The lab work should take 10 days, and they will operate even if the results show that they have the potential to turn into something dangerous.  In a way, I suppose their approach to my mole is somewhat akin to why we went to war with Iraq — they didn’t HAVE WMDs, but they had the capacity to maybe possibly create them.  Using that logic, I think it’s safe to say our president would have fared far better as a dermatologist than commander in chief.  Regardless, I hope everything turns out normal because the thought of having stitches next to my crotch gives me the heebie jeebies.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text message from my friend Andy who lives out in LA.  He texted that he was at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue party.  I responded that he was one of the luckiest people alive to which he agreed.  Since then, my jealousy has subsided a little, but I couldn’t help but be alarmed to read today that the attendees at the party could have been exposed to Hepatitis A.  While I know I could easily throw in a “Now who gets the last laugh” joke, I’m going to refrain because that’s some scary stuff.  Luckily, he told me today he’s going to get vaccinated and it’s not a very big deal.  It’s kind of funny how much the media blows out of proportion.

Lastly, and the saddest of all of the health news, a classmate of my littlest sister passed away this weekend of bacterial meningitis.  She was seven years old.  She was in class with my sister and everything was fine but somehow got it over the weekend and was gone three hours later.  It’s horribly sad news.  My dad told me she looked adorable in her casket, and it was a real shame something like that had to happen to someone so young.