A Whine

[Guest guest]

Lindi said;

> I'm sick.

I have influenza.

Your description sounds an awful lot like you may bronchitis too.

Have you seen your doctor?

/New York

[Guest guest]

I'm sick.

I have influenza. (Not the stomach bug thing that people mistakenly

call " the flu " ). I have the chest congestion, fever, aching body,

headache, sore throat, coughing (barking actually:-) and exhaustion

that come with the real McCoy. Antibiotics won't do a darned thing

for it, so I've been taking guaifenesin (Mucinex) for my chest,

aspirin for my fever, good vitamins, and drinking lots of liquids.

Since I'm considered as " high risk, " I religiously get my flu shot

every year and my pneumonia shot every five years. But of course, the

darned vaccine is late hitting the market again this year. I've been

staying mostly in bed or on the couch since late Monday. I work

alone, so I did sneak into the office for as long as I could last on

Wednesday, Thursday, and today.

The office building owner and I have become sort of friends, so I

phoned ahead and told her not to come anywhere near me. I thoroughly

disinfected my hands just before I opened the door to the building. I

kept my office door locked and shooed away a couple of people who

wanted to pop in and say Hi.

I didn't go near the community kitchen or bathroom. I disinfected my

hands again before I left my office. I opened the outside door with

my back:-) I also made darned sure I didn't sneeze or cough except in

the back room of my office with the door closed. There's no

ventilation system in that room, so the bug wasn't going anywhere. I

sprayed Lysol in the air and all over everything in the room. :-) I

made sure I took my tissues home with me for disposal.

I went through all that major performance and the longest I managed to

last at the office was three hours. <grin> That was yesterday: Today

I lasted two and a half. I got all today's phone messages and email.

I answered two email, returned four phone calls, and then realized

that I was too sick to do anything else. (duh)

I can't go near anyone, so I have people and their needs stacked up

like cordwood for the second I feel better.

I feel rather badly that I can't help them right away, but I don't

dare go near them. Most of them already have serious illnesses. They

sure don't need influenza on top of their other problems.

So now I'm home. I'm going to take another dose of guaifenesin and

aspirin and then go out and bring in the last of my still green

tomatoes. This afternoon, we have the first sunshine we've had all

week and I sure feel like I could use some sunshine. It's supposed to

freeze tonight. I've covered the tomatoes faithfully on frost nights

to give them some extra growing time, but the weather is going to keep

getting worse, so it's time to say goodbye to my little patch for this

year.

I'm too tuckered to do the tomatoes today, but as soon as I feel

better, I'm going to slice them and lay them out on cookie sheets.

Then I'll freeze them. As soon as they're frozen solid, I'll bag them

up. That way I will be able to have fried green tomatoes in the

middle of the winter.

After I bring the tomatoes in, I'm going to lay on the couch and watch

the six season of Charmed. It's finally out on DVD. I realize I'm

technically " too old " for a show so obviously aimed at women in their

20's and 30's. I've no idea why I like that show. I just do. :-)

If you read this far, thanks for letting me share my whine. I'm sorry

I couldn't pass around a platter of cheeses and crackers to go with

it.:-)

--

Feeling Extra Yucky In Hoosierville

Lyndi

[Guest guest]

--- Lyndi wrote:

>

> I'm sick.> I have influenza.

Dear Lyndi -

I'm so sorry you have the flu. I had the *real* flu once a few years

ago too - also the true flu, not the head cold most people refer to as

flu - and I completely understand how you feel!

Since then I've never misused the term " flu " to refer to anything less

that that completely debilitating, horrid disease. I was so miserable

I wanted to die. I was completely unable to lift an arm or even care

for myself for 10 full days. And hubby ended up with the same thing

starting just a couple of days after I came down with it - we just lay

there like lumps, unable to care for each other or even the puppy! I

don't have a clue how you managed to get up for even three hours!

And as someone with severe asthma who could have her life threatened by

uncaring people who insist on spreading their germs, I appreciate all

you did to try to protect your coworkers and clients.

But the best thing you can do for both them and yourself is to STOP,

DROP and REST! Quit trying to keep up with things, stop pushing

yourself! Go to bed, moan and groan and feel sorry for yourself, let

yourself be waited on if at all possible, and get better! You'll

recover faster if you don't push yourself.

And take absolutely every minute you need in order to recover. Don't go

back to activity too soon or there's the potential for a rebound that's

even worse than the first round.

(I know you know all this, but it doesn't hurt to have someone

reinforce it for you, right? Especially when you're feeling guilty

about taking time off from the world! <g>)

Take care of yourself, rest, recover and let us know when you're

feeling better. We're thinking about you.

Cheryl in AZ