Bringing in 2013 in Style

Leave it to me to bring in 2013 with the dreaded gastro.  It all started at the belle-famille's house in Toulouse, where Copain and I celebrated Noël. I thought I was going to be okay until BAM! Sunday morning  - GASTRO ATTACK!

Monday, AKA, New Year's was just depressing:

Dinner of champions.

2013 on the taupe couch.

I've been dealing with it ever since. This is my second day off of work (I tried to go back for two days, thinking I was better, but au contraire mon frère.) I've still got it good.

Since this will be my fifth full on day with... ahem, problems, I figured I'd better call a doctor (I was experiencing symptoms of dehydration - yuck).  At around 8:45 this morning I called the French SOS medecins and explained my symptoms. The woman on the phone listened to the issue, told me that I definitely needed to see a doctor if I was 5 days in, took down my address and told me that one was on the way.

Not even 30 minutes later, Dr SOS was knocking on my front door. Now I've made calls to SOS medecins before - but never for myself - always for other people. Sometimes you wait an hour, sometimes you wait 8 hours, depending on how busy they are and the level of urgency of your illness. I have to say, I was super impressed with the service. 

Yeah, Dr SOS smelled of cigarettes and it was the weirdest thing ever to be examined on the taupe couch in my living room - don't mind the drying laundry! - but it was awesome not to have to leave my house with the gastro (impossible!) and the visit cost me 50 euros (which I'll be reimbursed for by my health insurance). Yay for France and their resistance to change - otherwise this whole house call thing probably wouldn't exist. (ps - why don't they have this in the states??!)

I got a prescription for a three-day treatment (there goes another weekend!) and a doctor's note for work if needed. Voilà. Merci SOS.

Since my pharmacy is at the end of the street, I crossed my fingers for no gastro within the next 10 minutes, ran downstairs, got my free medicine and felt good enough to stop for chicken soup ingredients and ginger ale at the market next door. 

I'm about 5 pills and two bowls of chicken soup in, but still no improvements yet. I'm starting to get annoyed and feel trapped in my teeny Parisian apartment! 

Vive le gastro en 2013 - hopefully this less-than-amazing beginning to the year has nothing to do with what the rest of 2013 holds in store...