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Chad went to the San Franciso area for a work trip, arriving back home on January 25th. He brought with him the worst souvenir in the form of pernicious germs. Chad exhibited common cold symptoms upon waking up on his first day back at home. I guessed that it was only a matter of days before I also fell to the germs. I made an unscheduled trip to the store for sick supplies that included Nyquil, Gatorade, coughdrops, Kleenex (brag, we're fancy with the name brands), and soup. Chad worked from home for a few days, and returned to the office by the time I started feeling sick. The first illness brought no fevers, but plentiful sniffles, sneezes, coughing, general discomfort, mouth-breathing and tiredness. This was all mild relative to what awaited both Chad and me soon.
I recovered from illness A within about four days. Promptly upon my recovery from illness A, Chad came down with illness B, which we think was influenza. Illness B brought fever, chills, joint pain, body aches, more coughing, more sniffles, and more mouth-breathing. Chad worked from home again for several days, logging off early each day for naps. While I cared for him, I got a front-row preview of illness B for a few days before I also succumbed to the germs. By the time Chad was feeling well enough to return to the office after his round of illness B, I was sick. Really sick. When I emailed the library to let them know that I'd be out, my supervisor replied with commiseration, urging me to "rest, rest, and rest."
Five days of misery followed. I alternately had a fever so hot that I needed to lie on the cool tile floor of the kitchen, then felt such chills that I had to pile multiple blankets on myself. I spent most of those five days either in bed or on the floor. The worst day of my symptoms, I gathered enough strength to make my usual breakfast of yogurt, berries, and 1/3 cup of flaxseed oat granola. One of my cats loves to lick the dregs of my yogurt after I finish breakfast. Occasionally I have to fend him off from fully sticking his furry face in the yogurt while I'm trying to eat. So on this day, while very sick, I prepared my yogurt bowl, then felt a wave a heat from fever overtake my core. I left my yogurt bowl on the kitchen counter, to lie on the tile floors. My sweet cat put his whisker face on my forehead, and telepathically communicated, "yeah, lady, you're down bad with the fever. I smell it on you." Naturally, his next mission was to help himself to the yogurt so thoughtfully left out for him on the counter. No amount of verbal protest on my part swayed him from his delicious prize. I stood very slowly, mindful of my illness, and put the yogurt bowl into the refrigerator, out of the reach of my dairy obsessed boy.
As I was briefly upright, I felt an urgent need to go to the bathroom. I must stress, urgent need! I made my way into the bathroom, and sat on the toilet, as one does. While seated, I thought, I'm still so feverish. I need to get myself into the dry bathtub as soon as I'm done on the toilet. Oh no. I feel kind of woozy.
I regained consciousness a while later. How much later? Haha, I don't know. Less than ten minutes? My other cat walked between my feet on the floor, seemingly concerned at my current ability level to dole out treats. My head was wedged between the bathroom sink and the back of the toilet tank. A basket of feminine supplies residing on the back of the toilet tank acted as a pillow in my moment of need. I literally laughed out loud as I surveyed my situation. I slowly stood, pulled up my pajama bottoms, washed my hands, and trudged in a half stoop to the bed. I slept for three and a half hours. When I awoke, I thought about texting Chad at work to let him know what happened, but I didn't want to worry him. What could he do? Rush home to watch me lie on the floor and binge old sitcoms and YouTube videos?
You might be wondering why I didn't go to the doctor for some Tamiflu to help alleviate illness B? Haha, yeah, so all five of the primary care physicians I've ever seen in Austin retired over the past six years. I don't have a primary care physician currently. Nor did I possess the energy or will to try and find a new doctor in my moment of need and misery. That reminds me, I need to find a primary care physician. They'll probably announce their retirement soon after my first visit with them.
While Chad and I tag-teamed illnesses over the course of three weeks, we missed out on several special scheduled events. Jack, I'm sorry that I didn't make it to your show even though I bought tickets far in advance. I'm sad about the hard-to-get dinner reservation I had to cancel.
I'm thankful to be feeling healthy again. I'm thankful for being able to breathe through my nose. I'm thankful to not suffer coughing and sneezing fits. I'm thankful to be able to exercise, and go for nightly walks again. I'm thankful that I caught up on housekeeping chores. I'm thankful to be back to my regularly scheduled life.
Days without illness: 32 and counting.
