I spent that Thursday night fighting back wave after wave of nausea. It was a miserable times that was void of sleep. Evidently, the swine flu had camped out in my body. The experience wasn’t much fun.
Amy and I have been married for nearly 35 years. In that time, I’ve tossed my cookies only 2 times, both the result of inner ear troubles that set my world spinning. On that Thursday night, actually early Friday morning at about 5:00 a.m., the third time came. The dog demanded to be let out, and as I walked to the back door, the signs that things were coming appeared. Snoop went out, and I sprinted to the bathroom just in time. It was a terrible thing for a man who fights throwing up so much.
Another part of the swine flu is the aches. Every joint in my body, right down to my little toes, was sore. My muscles felt as if they’d just completed running a marathon or playing a game in Neyland Stadium. At times like that, no position is comfortable. My throat as just a bit scratchy, and I felt as if I were on the cusp of a cold. At first I wasn’t sure if the throat condition were due to a cold or from the yakking I completed.
The most prevalent part of this flu was tiredness. I spent all of Friday in bed, and I slept most of the time. Now, I’ve been known to take an occasional nap, but my staying flat of my back when the sun is shining has to mean something’s wrong. Amy came home about 6:00 and I’d just gotten up, but not for long. By 10:00, my fanny was again lying in bed, where I stayed until 8:00 the next day.
This attack of flu knocked me out of covering a couple of stories that were on my schedule. One was reset, but the other was a reception to which I’d looked forward. I probably could have attended the affair, but knowing just how much of a kick this flu has prevented me from leaving the house and possibly infecting a crowd of people.
The flu is something strange to me. Over the years, I don’t think the bug has hit me more than one or two times. Years of teaching built my immunities to all sorts of bugs that waylay most folks. However, having been away from school for a couple of years must have done away with it. I’ve now found ONE downside to having retired, but I can deal with it.
I teased Amy about the way I contracted H1N1 flu. For Thursday night supper she fixed eggs, toast, and SAUSAGE! Yep, I told her, the flu was the result of having eaten pork. My dear wife told me I was full of it, but I reminded her of other digestive disorders that I’d suffered which would have prevented me from being full of anything.
Amy left me sitting on the porch Sunday morning as she went to church. She claims I might still have been contagious. She took my greetings to friends there with the message that I cared too much about them to take the risk of spreading the bug. When she left, I grunted and lay back in bed for another nap. I hoped to be back to full strength soon. Then I would travel to one of my morning meetings to make a pig of myself on biscuits and gravy and, maybe, a piece of two of sausage.
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