January Sick Time!

I began my first month of this new year by getting sick. And by sick I do not mean the sniffles. I mean feeling deathly ill screaming to whomever would listen just to "TAKE ME NOW!!!"  I had a high fever, chills so bad my teeth chattered, and aches and pains so bad that upon moving my pinky finger, my body went into spasms. One word for you all:  FLU.  I had thought it was bronchitis but a doctor visit confirmed it was under that lovely umbrella of flu-related viruses. My fever peaked at 104'F and proceeded to break and spike for three days. 

I went through 3 sets of bed sheets and PJs (yes I wear my sleepy pants and shirts) which were drenched from sweat. Mucinex and ibuprofen became my best friends. I subsisted on water, apple juice, apple sauce, and chicken soup. As a diet, it could not be beat. I lost eight pounds. John would come near me and I would moan and groan, "Leave me aloooone. Don't come near me! I am contaaaagious!"  He still caught it, and cursed me each day after.  Even the cats avoided me.

I finally started feeling better on the 5^th day but was oh so weak. I was fatigued walking up ½ a flight of stairs. My arm grew tired holding up my cell phone. And on top of it all …. I didn't drink alcohol for 7 days!!!  You KNOW I was sick! I didn't even want my evening nightcap!  After 2 weeks, I was feeling a lot better. Strength was up and I was eating normally again (which means I pigged out).

I was reminded of when I contracted mononucleosis (mono) in 7^th grade. I was sick and out of school for a month and a half.  My days were spent sleeping in my parent's bedroom with Mom taking care of me 'round the clock. It wasn't much work I guess because I slept so much. When I was awake I played with toys, games, or watched the black and white TV in their room (no cable back then!).  

I really got into the afternoon soaps very quickly though. I knew every character from Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. Merv Griffin and Phil Donahue became my daily best friends. Mom was sweet enough to bring by me gifts to cheer me up: toys, books, comics. I have good memories during this time of how well she took care of me.

When I went back to school, I was not able to participate in gym as my spleen was so enlarged and swollen. I was asked whether I wanted to observe gym on the sidelines for the next 8 weeks or spend 8 weeks in studying hall. If I took the study hall, my gym teacher whom I despised said he would assign me a 10 page paper to write on sports.  OK. I hated gym class with a PASSION. I was pretty unathletic. I was and still am a self-professed geek. I was a bookworm who read voraciously and looked at school studies as fun rather than punishment. So ... YES, I took the study hall for 2 months and wrote that stupid paper in a day. And yes, I got an A! Silly school administrators, they didn't know they were dealing with a budding writer.