FEVER! When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight

The cough set in late Monday night. I'd had a weird tickle all day, but suddenly it went from polite throat clearing to painful barking my lungs out. I had cough syrup (why we can send humans to outer space but not create a decent tasting cough syrup is beyond me), but I didn't sleep so well.

Tuesday I was doing pretty well. I was still coughing and it was still painful, but at least it wasn't often. But by that afternoon, I started feeling flush and achy. I made it through work and a run to the grocery store for sore throat supplies (I had run out of cough drops AND honey) before going home and taking my temperature.

99.3

No big deal. I laid down for 30 minutes, snuggled in fleece jammies and heavy blankets, and then took my temperature again.

100.3

That's cool. I can handle this. I was feeling well enough, I thought, that I could still go to the Institute choir concert, but only sing in the nontet and play my finger cymbals.

The fact that I was double dressing to go sit in a chapel didn't clue me in otherwise. Two shirts AND a sweater plus pants and other pants. Oh, and my snowboots with fuzzy insides and slipper socks. I mean, it was a cold day, but this is what I wanted to wear for an inside thing.

I made it through. Barely. Afterward, I came straight home and went straight to bed. It was before 10 PM.

At 7 AM, I woke up and took my temperature again.

101.7

Now, I don't have health benefits and I don't get sick leave, so the didn't make the following decision lightly.

I called in sick.

I haven't done that since I started this job in summer 2006 because I haven't felt this sick during work hours since who knows when. (I almost took a sick day after bringing home something nasty from Egypt, but my stomach was only rejecting my offerings during non-work hours. It was mostly fine from 9-5.)

After making three calls, I went back to bed and stayed there until almost 1 PM. At some point, I'd taken a phone call from my Dad and I'd considered getting up for food more than once, but I always kept falling back asleep.

Sleep is good.

After 15 hours of sleep, I finally succumbed to hunger and foraged for a few bites of applesauce and a string cheese. Applesauce bottles are COLD when you're feverish.

Once I fed myself, I was lying down again, this time on the couch. I had food, appropriate meds for my symptoms, and a blanket. I was still shivering, but I didn't have the energy to get up for a warmer blanket.

I watched tv, I took a nap, I considered doing things on the computer but declined the idea a sitting up for longer the necessary and figured my brain couldn't handle computing anyway. For a few exciting moments, I had a nasty nosebleed. I decided it was the run off from my brain boiling inside my skull. That was fun.

By sometime in the evening, my fever was down significantly and I was able to set up a makeshift humidifier with a pot on the stove AND heat some leftover soup to eat. It was glorious.

Around 10 PM, I was even feeling up for a visitor, namely my home teacher, especially because he came bearing gifts of Kleenex, Gatorade, chocolate, and a cool microwave potato that the Republican senators got in their gift baskets at lunch today.






Kyle pretty much rules.

My fever was back by the time I went to bed, but another 9 hours of sleep was enough to make it go away for good. I feel 18 bajillion times better today. I got to go back to work and even partook of Building Holiday Luncheon Part 2: The Leftovers Edition. I hope the food was better yesterday; I'm kind of glad I only had to eat it once. At tonight's choir concert, I was wearing my snow boots again, but that's because it snowed. I still have a cough and I can only breathe through both my nostrils on special occasions when I concentrate on doing only that, but without the brain boiling, I still feel pretty awesome.

I'm so glad this flu thing only lasted a day or so. Of course, not having it at all would have been preferable, but at least I'm getting better now.

Fevers. Are. Lame.

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