#grooooo

I've thrown up three times in the last two hours. I hate throwing up. I just count myself fortunate that, as of right now, I'm just throwing up; usually I get it from both ends at the same time.

After the first time, I tried to get back to sleep, but whenever I get sick, I get a little anxious, too. Whether it's throwing up or congestion, I'm always afraid that I'm going to choke or suffocate in my sleep (which is the main reason I tend to sleep in my armchair whenever I'm ill). Didn't help that half an hour later, I had to go back down to the bathroom. At that point, I just turned on my bedside lamp and sat up to read in bed, but after the third trip to the bathroom, I finally gave in completely.

I just emailed my boss and my "account manager" to tell them that I won't be in to work today. I'm feeling all right at the moment, but that doesn't mean anything and I know it. What's worrying me is that the office has a new policy that if you miss work for a "health-related reason," you have to have a physician's/medical provider's note. I don't usually go to the doctor unless I've been sick for at least twenty-four hours, largely because all he can do in the first twenty-four (unless I'm showing obvious signs of a major illness, like chicken pox spots or horrendous paralyzing abdominal pain or holding my severed limb in my lap) is tell me to "rest and drink plenty of fluids," which is what I'm doing anyway, but also because I can't afford it. Fourteen months of unemployment (and two years of basic under-employment before that) meant I couldn't afford health insurance, and I'm only just getting to the point now that I can start shopping around. I still owe the office money, I think, and I'm not sure they'll see me if I don't pay off the whole balance--and I'm not sure what that is.

Oh, well. I asked my account manager what she needs, and if I have to call the doctor's office and be like, "Look, here are my symptoms, do I absolutely need to come in and puke all over you for you to send a note saying that I can't go to work today?" then I will. I'm hoping, though, that the provision only applies to people who miss more than one day of work...