Nasty

Yeah, so I got sick last Thursday.

Last Thursday at lunch, to be precise.  Which I can, because up until then I'd had a cold.. not felt well, taken cold meds and been sort of ok-ish but not great.

Thursday mid-way through my lunch I realized I couldn't eat it anymore.

And that my skin hurt and I wished I could take my clothes off because they were rubbing.

And I was cold.

I knew I was sick but I also had to get through the day so I did, and although I probably shouldn't have, I drove home, had a shower and collapsed on the couch.

Like, passed out asleep on the couch.

Until I got so overheatedly hot it made me get up and rush to the bathroom to throw up.

And that's when I figured I didn't just have a bad cold, but actually had the flu.

And it all went downhill from there.

I had about an hour of alive-ness post throwing up and I did whatever needed to be done and then I went straight to bed and asleep.

Next day was sleeping and coughing and knowing I should be drinking more or something but the amount of effort it took just to get up and go to the bathroom was beyond me, so I knew I wasn't doing a very good job of taking care of myself but I couldn't do much of anything at all.

C-Dawg brought me some fluids Saturday morning and I did what I could to drink them because I could tell I was severely dehydrated but I was also coughing non-stop and deeply, and everything hurt and it finally occurred to me I might have a fever so I took my temperature and yes, I had a fever so I turned off all the heat in my place and that helped because getting too hot just made me throw up again and I tried to sleep but the coughing and the fever dreams didn't really let me rest and it was bad you guys.

Sunday morning, barely managing to get myself to drink and not feeling any better, I knew I needed to get to a clinic.  C-Dawg could make it after noon, my brother wasn't home, so I called my folks, even though I'd not wanted to worry them.

Mom came by, took one look at me and insisted I come stay with them.  She said Dad was just getting over this flu anyway so it's not like I would be infecting them.  And I knew I couldn't take care of myself so I packed a few things and went.

And I'm really glad I did because I wasn't coping at home.  I'd sweated into my sheets for three nights and I knew they were gross but I couldn't do the laundry.  And there were all the other things I wasn't managing to do because even just walking from my apartment to my Mom's car took more energy than I had.

And the damn fever.  Put me anywhere warm and I'd start to bake and get nauseous.  And I couldn't stop coughing and that just made all the hurting bits hurt even more and the cough was so bad it was making my throat hurt and now my ears were starting to hurt and I just wanted it to stop.

I felt better being at my parents' place and they opened up the fold out bed downstairs and I just slept on and off all day.  My poor Dad was hacking away too and I felt so bad for my Mom having to take care of the two of us but I was also too out of it to be able to do anything other than feel grateful that they were there for me.

Iced face cloths helped with the fever and Monday morning, I called the doctor and got an appointment for later that day.

The doctor checked me over... said she didn't remember me ever being this sick, and it took all I had not to beg her to "just please help me"...  She must have heard or seen something she didn't like because she put me on an antibiotic (please, everyone remember flu bugs don't need antibiotics, this is for a secondary infection) and told me to get some DM cough syrup so I could get some relief from the cough.

The DM syrup didn't do anything at all (ugh) so I went another night with odd dreams and sweats and snatching an hour here or there between coughing fits, but by mid-day Tuesday the antibiotics had started to do their thing and my fever broke and I started to feel a little more human.

Or like my Mom said "yesterday you were dying, today you just feel like you're going to die, right?"

Right.

The doctor also told me I had to eat so I tried a smoothie here and there... managed a few sips of one and half of the other.

I think it was Wednesday when I had a bit of dinner and felt like I was going to be ok after all!

I was nervous to come home, knowing the laundry had to be done, and the dishwasher emptied and the groceries bought and the apartment swept and the garbage taken out and so I stayed an extra day until I felt like I had enough energy to do at least the laundry.

Which I did as soon as I got home, and then promptly threw up and, well maybe I should have just stayed out the rest of the week.... oh well.

My coughing isn't constant anymore, and I've slept through the night a few nights now and I'm eating a little and my temperature is a lot closer to normal.

So now I'm back to just feeling like I have a rotten cold, and no energy.

Will be on the antibiotics for a few more days and then hopefully I'll start feeling better and better and better and, wow.  That was the sickest I've been in a very long time and I would not wish that on my worst enemy.

And, yes, I did get the flu shot this year.

I'm also trying to work through the muscle I pulled coughing...that's a not so fun one.  Oh, and the lungs that sometimes snore if I roll into a certain position.  Or wheeze.  Or... you know, hack themselves up.

Le sigh.

Here's to health, and having it.