KO

So there has been a lot of illness going around the office recently, the latest victim being someone in our department who went home Thursday mid-day, shortly after we had a staff meeting.  He called in sick Friday as well, sounding horrible.  I went through my day Friday feeling fine, glad that I was not yet another victim of the flu bug.

Well late Friday evening I started having these subtle pangs of un-wellness in my body.  I just didn’t feel right and I started with a small but persistent cough.  This amplified overnight where I had horrid sleep.  Aches and pains multiplied and grew as my body went through period of intense shivering cold followed by sauna like sweats.  When daylight broke I drug myself out of bed to let the chickens out of the coop although I barely had the strength to walk.  When Cindy came out and told me she would handle the rest I offered no resistance.  I stumbled back inside and collapsed into bed.

Saturday may have been one of the most miserable days of illness I can recall in quite a long time.  Every molecule in my body felt like it hurt.  Normal illness activities like watching tv, being on the computer, reading or even sitting up right all seemed insurmountably difficult and I did none of it. Instead I just laid in bed feeling nearly paralyzed as waves of cold and heat surged through my body.  I felt absolutely awful. Cindy of course wanted to do what she could to help me but I also wanted to try to avoid her catching this bug at all costs.  We tried to keep her physical contact with me at a minimum and I tried to not let my germs fly everywhere, coughing into my upper arm and washing stuff vigorously.

Even though all my body wanted to do was lay there even that became problematic.  Laying around for double digit hours causes all sorts of discomfort for somebody that normally is not great at standing still.  In addition to body pain from the flu, there was ancillary pressure point pain in my backs and legs from being in bed all day.  The few times that I did force myself to sit up and walk a few steps it felt like colossal work, that required me to lay back down immediately afterward.

I felt badly that Cindy was forced to be a participant in what had to be a pretty miserable scenario.  Any attempts she made to engage me in any conversation were met with a few grunts or groans.  Of course our plans to see Deadpool Saturday night were washed away as well.

In an attempt to again minimize her exposure to my illness Cindy slept in the guest bedroom Saturday night.  Sadie instead was my bedmate for most of the night.   I again had a bad night of sleep waking up feeling exhausted once again.  There was some small improvement in my symptoms.  I didn’t have as many chills as I did Saturday and I was able to spend a good portion of the day sitting instead of laying flat on my back.  I did some minor items around the house like some laundry but kept my activity very minimal.  I tired very quickly and still had aches and pains throughout my body. I did feel well enough to spend a good portion of the day reading my second Warcraft novel.  I ripped through a couple hundred pages at least.

Sunday evening I again had a terrible night of sleep, the main culprit now being a dry hacking cough that would not allow me 5 minutes of peace so I could drift off.  Despite taking two Nyqil gel tabs I laid in bed hacking until well after midnight.  When I did finally fall asleep it was not solid at all, it felt like I woke up literally dozens of times.  When I pulled myself out of bed this morning I was feeling tired not only from the poor sleep but also the haze that the sleep aid in Nyquil puts over you.  I had already told my boss at work to not expect me in today.  He was all for it as the last thing he wants is for more people, including himself, to go through this 72 hours of hell.

So far today I feel better than the last two days but far from any semblance of normal.  I’m still coughing, aching, and feeling pretty freaking miserable. I hope that I slowly improve throughout the day and finally get a night of true rest for the first time since last week. Illness sucks.