The Flu/plague

I will try not to be too dramatic in this blog, but let me start by saying... I nearly died last week! I got the flu and when I say flu, I mean influenza, the horrible, awful thing that the "flu shot" is supposed to prevent. Well, I didn't get a flu shot, so shoot me!
First of all, from now on when someone casually mentions that they had the flu, I will cross examine them. If they, indeed, pass the test, I will allow them to state that they had the flu, but if they don't... well, I pity them.

Here is how my flu started: I had a 4 mile run on Saturday, after which I felt a bit congested, like maybe my allergies were here or a slight cold, nothing horrible. Sunday was a bit worse, but still manageable. On Monday I woke up feeling not great. I decided to stay home from work. It was Spring Break and Megan was home so I thought I'd stay home and kick it because I had a funeral that I was organizing on Thursday. I hung out at home, scrap booked a bit and felt ok. By that night I knew that this was more than a cold. Tuesday morning I woke up feeling like death. I knew I had to go to work to do some things for the funeral. I staggered in and did the things that were necessary, but left at noon feeling like a train had run over me. I slept the rest of the day and woke up at like 11:00 on Wednesday. I had off and on had chills and was freezing. I took Advil and just laid in bed. On Wednesday, I had a fever of almost 103. I literally stayed in bed all day. At one point I realized that I wasn't going to make it in for the funeral. I emailed my friend at work who had offered to help. I basically staggered to the office and composed an email that was one run on sentence of instruction to her. I was sweating and my head was spinning... it was all I could do to send the email. I made it back to bed and slept for another million hours (it seemed like). My fever broke in the night which meant that I woke up in a pool of sweat. Too weak to get up and change clothes, I just rolled over and went back to sleep. On Thursday morning at precisely 10:10, I awoke. I had this thought that I would wash the sheets. I knew that for a wash and dry cycle it would take me being up and out of bed for 2 hours. I did it, barely. I also managed a shower in that time frame. I made the bed and then flopped into it and slept the rest of that day away.

At one point, I looked at Bruce and said, "If I were on the Oregon Trail, I'd be dead." I wasn't kidding. This thought occurred to me. Here I am in my nice big bedroom with my cozy bed and ceiling fan and barely alive. I know that at the peak of my fever I had hallucinations, but this wasn't one, I had an epiphany, those poor women had to go about their daily existence, even when sick, no wonder so many perished along the way. I would have been laid out by the piano or dresser. Anyway, but I digress.

I survived the plague/flu. I will from here on out quiz anyone who claims to have had it. I will most likely get a flu shot from now on. I am currently on meds to overcome the bronchitis that the flu left me as a parting shot. The day I can run again will be nice, I think it's near. I didn't die, the covered wagon is intact. I thank the good Lord that He is in control.

Dudster