After two days our symptoms had worsened, and both of us still had a sore throat that was visible swollen, increasing congestion, and a lack of energy. We decided at that time to seek medical attention on the road. I suspected that we both had been infected with Strep throat.
The closest medical facility to where we were staying was what was called MinuteClinic was staffed by a Nurse Practicioner at a local pharmacy, in Santa Ana, California.
NP's can treat a very limited list of ailments, but since it was upper respiratory I decided they could probably handle it, and get us the antibiotics to begin feeling better before we left for Hawaii.
I could have called the medical clinic that I work at back in Chicago also, but when it comes down to using an antibiotic these days you want to make sure that you have a bacterial, not viral infection, so I felt a test for strep was necessary.
The nurse at the clinic checked us both out in a small examination room next to the pharmacy. I told her I suspected we both had Strep. She examined my wife, and didn't take a throat culture, she felt my wife has a sinus infection. She inspected me and did take a throat culture. The ready test showed nothing, so she did not prescribe me anything. She did prescribe my wife some antibiotics even though she never took a throat culture from her.
We visited the MinuteClinic on a Saturday, on Wednesday afternoon I got a call on my cell phone that indeed my culture for Strep had come in positive. The person on the phone relaying the news could barely speak English, and she said to come into the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I told her that I was in Hawaii now and that she would have to call it in to a local pharmacy in Lahaina which she did. As for my wife she couldn't tell me if they had originally prescribed the right medication if she indeed have strep throat rather than the suspected sinus infection.
I find it hard to believe that we were sick on Saturday, but were not able to get antibiotic treatment until the following Wednesday evening which meant we had to spend five days being sick before we got the antibiotic treatment we needed to start feeling better.
The bottom line, and I should have followed this one simple rule... it is best to go to a real urgent, or immediate care center to see a real doctor, and get a real lab test so treatment could begin right away.
Ready tests for Strep can be tricky if the NP administering it does not do it correctly which is evidentially the case in our situation. If we had gone to an Immediate Care facility like Healthy Trust we would have gotten the treatment we needed, at the same price, without waiting five days for a test to come back from the lab.
In our scenario it is real risky business to see a since my wife is a diabetic. A strep infection for a diabetic can turn into pneumonia overnight. It would have been a smarter choice to take a longer drive from where we were staying to visit an urgent care center, or an ER.
Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care in Wheeling is your choice for urgent medical care when you cannot get into see your own physician, do not have a regular physician, have health insurance, or do not have health insurance and need medical help right away.
Don't risk your health at a pharmacy, come see a real doctor at Healthy Trust and start feeling better immediately.
We serve the Chicago North Shore Communities of Lake County, Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Lincolnshire, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Northbrook, Highland Park, Long Grove, Riverwoods, Des Plaines, Palatine, Glenview, Highwood, Northfield, Libertyville, Winnetka, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Mundelein, and Bannockburn.
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