'Flu

Since Monday I've been stuck in the house with 'flu. I had a short daytime shift on Monday, but felt pretty peculiar before I left, partly because I had to make a huge cardboard bale by myself so I got pretty sweaty. When I got home I took my temperature and it was 99F, and by bedtime it was 102.3F.

I called in sick on Tuesday after a very broken night of mostly non-sleep, slept two long periods during the day, and Wednesday was a day off anyway, after an even worse night during which I moved to my reclining chair downstairs to give Beth a better chance of undisturbed sleep. My temperature and other 'flu symptoms (aching muscles, shivering fits, sweating, cold hands, hot and cold flushes, coughs, massive sneezes, that stuffed-up head feeling, the works) just wouldn't go away.

Wednesday night was slightly better, but by now my nose was so raw inside that it was exquisitely painful just to breathe in and out. My feet were freezing, and I found a water bottle (brough over from the UK) with no cover, for which Beth made me a cover in minutes while I huddled in bed trying to get warm. I called in sick again on Thursday. This is the longest period of sickness that I think I've had since moving to the US, certainly since starting work, and it was getting more than tedious.

On Thursday evening I just couldn't keep warm, and eventually got under a shower at the hottest possible setting, which managed to drive the back chills and shivers away long enough to dry off and jump straight into bed with the hot water bottle and my warmest pajamas.

At around 3:30am I awoke from a dream where I was trapped in a dank room with water beading the walls. Beth was taking a bathroom break, and as I moved to get comfortable I discovered I was soaked in sweat, as were the sheets, pillow, and comforter. As Beth was already awake we were able to change the sheets, my pajamas, and spread out the comforter to air, finishing the night under some spare covers.

I've seen films and TV shows (Little House on the Prairie comes to mind) where the doctor and family gather round a sickbed, waiting for the fever to break (or the patient to expire), and I guess that's what happened last night (the break, not the expire). I'm certainly feeling a ton better this morning, ready (almost eager) to go to my 1pm shift, and not feeling like I'm viewing life through a fog.