my 10-day vacation ended last night, so tonight, it's back to work for me.  ugh, i could just imagine the tons of emails waiting for me at my inbox in the office!  it'll take me the whole shift tonight just to read them!  plus updating my team's month-end stats for the previous month!  i haven't set foot in the office yet, but i'm already beginning to feel the stress coming right back at me!  hehehehehehe!!  i actually planned to go to the office during the middle of my vacation just to read the emails so as not to get swamped when i report back.  but i was enjoying too much of doing nothing that i put that off until when i return, so i guess that's that.  although i did go there last friday morning because i had to submit my team's attendance tracker for the second half of the month for payroll purposes, which is very, very important.  but i didn't dare open my inbox and see all those unread emails.  i was there for just about 15-20 minutes.  i greeted some colleagues, submitted what needed to be submitted, and i was outta there.

i really needed that vacation.  a week before the start of my 10-day hiatus, i had a bad case of cough and colds which affected my throat, thus causing me voice problems.  the cough and colds went away, but my voice remained the same–hoarse.  so also last friday, after dropping by the office, i went to see an ENT doctor at healthway in festival mall to have my throat checked.  it was covered by our HMO provider so i didn't pay anything.  good service, too.  i only waited around 10 minutes after getting all my information when the doctor called me in.  i briefed her on the history, and at that time, i was already feeling fine.  no more coughs–at least it was down to around two percent from when i was coughing a lot two weeks ago–and everything was normal, except for my voice.  she did take a look at my throat and told me that the whole throat portion was so red and had like some, well, not really lesions, but things around it.  she performed three procedures on my throat, all involving placing and spraying some medication which almost prompted me to throw up, but i was able to control it.  my throat went numb after a couple of seconds which i felt like something was coming out of it through my mouth and the doctor just advised me to keep swallowing during that sensation.  she then prescribed me to take three types of medicines, one antibiotic to be taken twice a day for seven days, one normal medicine also twice a day for five days, and one steroid also twice a day for five days.  i was quite taken aback when she mentioned the steroid, but she quickly added that that won't make me fat or high, or something like that.  it's for the insides of the throat to stop swelling.  she also listed some of the things i cannot take and drink:  fruit juices of any kind, menthol candies and or lozenges, chocolates and peanuts.  i was ok with the latter part, but the juices were a downer.  of course, alcohol was also a given since i'll be on medication but i drink fruit juices on a daily basis.  even at work.  so it's mostly water for me.  she didn't mention softdrinks on the forbidden list, but i took it upon myself to not take softdrinks–at least not always.  no ice as well on anything.  cool, refrigerated water is fine, but absolutely no ice.  and her final recommendation is to rest my voice as much as possible.  no whispering, but i can talk as normal as i can, but not too much.  only what i can manage.  good thing is not total voice rest or my boss will kill me, even if i don't take regular calls.  at least i still won't be taking any supervisory calls.  hehehehehe!!!

to sum up my vacation, as i have said, it was something i badly needed.  the cough and colds were already an indicator that i really had to take one.  though i wasn't able to go back to puerto galera as i had originally planned, the rest and actually doing nothing helped me recuperate and recharge for the next couple of months of the daily grind at work.  my next long vacation will be during the christmas and new year's celebration, so that's still far off.  i spent my birthday quietly two saturdays ago with my family, aunts, uncles and cousins so i guess that's the only highlight of my vacation.  i actually regained some of my voice that night after a few shots of alcohol but went back to hoarse the next day.  in any case, today is day two of my medication and water-only treatment.  five and seven days isn't that long, so i won't have to anguish in not drinking any orange or pineapple juices (my favorites) for so long.

it's back to reality.  it's just as fitting like ending summer vacation and starting school.  but i won't be totally ending the fun, for i have already reserved tickets for ocean's thirteen this thursday and fantastic four:  rise of the silver surfer next thursday.  two good movies to be seen in two weeks.  not at all bad.  plus, i'm starting to get the transformers fever!!  one month to go, and i can't hardly wait for it's screening!  hmmm… where's that dvd of the animated movie?  might worth watching it again…  hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a good week ahead!  😀