Golf ball in my throat...

On Friday, Erin and a few of her roomies headed to a farm for a field trip that had been rescheduled due to the unusual snow in Rome a few weeks earlier...

I had thought I'd get up early and go for a run before exploring, but my throat had other plans.

Starting Tuesday morning in Barcelona, I had a bit of a sore throat that seemed to go away during the day. Wednesday was worse, but I chalked it up to being tired, yelling a lot in the nightclub the nights before, and just traveling. Upon arriving back in Neuilly-Plaisance, I told Philippe and Christine and they gave me some medicine to help. 

Thursday morning, it was even worse, but I was due to fly to Florence and refused to miss my trip. So, I went to the pharmacy right next to our house, got some pills and medicated cough drops, and said a prayer that I'd feel better.

No such luck. By about 3 am on Friday I was miserable and I had barely slept. It felt like I had a golf ball lodged in my throat. I got up in the morning and donned my running clothes. I also tucked my wallet and insurance cards into the pocket of my running pants, intending to stop at a pay phone and call collect to get the name of an Italian doctor.

Four pay phones later, I still couldn't get through collect and realized that even my voice was affected by this awful sore throat. I couldn't swallow (not to be gross, but corn flakes I tried to eat for breakfast got stuck going down and it was excruciating to drink tea), I could barely talk, and I was just miserable.

On the off chance they could help, I stepped into an Italian pharmacy and said a prayer someone there spoke English. JACKPOT! After some tears and explaining what was going on, I walked out with a 3-day prescription for Zithromax (for only 7, 70 Euro). I'm not sure if it was legal for him to give me antibiotics, but thank goodness he did. I didn't finish my run, but instead bought a bottle of water, managed to swallow a pill, and headed back to the apartment.

I was determined to have a good time in Florence, so I just kept pushing through, but started feeling better by Saturday morning. I'm still not 100% (a week later), but things are much better. 

A big thank you to my Italian pharmacist god and a big boo to my insurance company and emergency assistance number not accepting my collect calls...