Today being day 4 of no voice, with advice from all sides including a remote co-worker:
9:47:11 AM: coworker: Hey...no need to talk today I guess...until next year
9:47:12 AM: coworker: Unless you have something?
9:47:15 AM: me: ok - that's good because I have completely lost my voice  :-(
9:47:29 AM: me: day 4, i seriously cannot talk at all
9:47:30 AM: coworker: sorry to hear that
9:47:39 AM: me: thanks - i'm not really all that sick but I can't talk
9:48:08 AM: coworker: u should have it check...my son had the same thing...needed antobiotics
9:48:15 AM: coworker: then cleared up
9:48:26 AM: me: oh - thanks, everything I read says it's always a virus

And  then there's George telling me I need to find out from a doctor if it's OK for me to travel.  It's a cold... yes I can travel.

And so I called the Kaiser advice nurse and croaked my way through her triage.  She basically concluded that since it sort of hurts me to cough sometimes that I must be sicker than I'm letting on and I should go to the doctor.

So I go... first thing is I have to pay the $20 co-pay.  Now, I have read everything there is to read about laryngitis, it's almost always viral, they don't  even want to see you unless it's been 2 weeks.  So I'm not expecting much for my $20.  I have no fever (97.5), low b.p., etc.  The doc listens and pokes and peeks, takes a throat culture even though it didn't look bad.  And she said she heard some wheezing so she'll prescribe 2 inhalers.

I get dressed, take the throat culture to the lab and go to the pharmacy.  They want $40.  UGH.  And since it's a new med, the pharmacist wants to consult. She starts telling me about the 2 inhalers (I've never used one), and then says I have to rinse my mouth after one of them because it's a steroid and otherwise it could cause an infection. WTF??  A steroid?  I dont' want to take a steroid.  I start asking her what these medicines are.  Are they to cure me, or just for symptoms?  Just for symptoms.  I say I don't want them and go back to see the doctor.

The doctor says I don't have to take the steroid, it was just to help my breathing.  I'm breathing fine enough to not inhale steroids, which aren't even for immediate relief.  The more I hear, the more incredulous I get - why would they prescribe this without even talking to me about it?  So she says she'll call the pharmacy to get it taken off.

I go back to the pharmacy and they start to refund the $30, it takes forever because they don't know how to do it.  But I got the money back, and now I have just a regular inhaler, and I'm not even sure I need that.

Does anyone else ever question what doctors say?  Do the doctors just think everyone is too oblivioius to even care about what medicine they're taking and blindly trust the doctors, or think they have to get a prescription every time they go in??  Are we supposed to throw our money away on meds we don't need, and then throw away the medicine, too?

There's something wrong here... very wrong.