Tag Archives: flu

I am now back amongst the living, or at least trying to be.  My husband, Ron, was laughing as I asked how people cope with this on a regular basis.  The last time I dealt with this was in September 2010, and that was only for 48 hours, this was five days down, two days debatable, and I’m still not totally back.

I can blame the attorney I work for, he is the one that contaminated me with this awful cold/flu bug.  When I contacted him last week on Wednesday and told him I was at work, but only for a couple hours to get some things organized and then going home sick, he called me and said “The good news is, you’ll live.”  He then proceeded to tell me while I had it I would be miserable.  Nothing like a note of encouragement from the boss!

People like me who generally don’t get sick don’t do sick well, we don’t know how to cope.  Seriously, I don’t have time for this!  However, the world did not come to a screeching halt because I was not functioning in it, and I did make a few observations along the way.

• Daytime TV has its advantages and disadvantages.  When you are likely going to be sleeping more than watching, channels that run marathons are great.  You can watch 15 minutes of Criminal Minds at 11 am, catch a few more minutes at 12:30, and then grab a great ending at 2:00.  Same characters, and the variety in the crime just adds a bit of interest to the show.
• As soon as you get fully reclined and snuggled under your afghan the telephone will ring.
• Despite all the lousy telemarketer messages you get on your answering machine, there are an even larger number of callers that don’t leave messages if you ignore the incoming call.
• There are a lot of TV shows advertised that appear to be families fighting, both physically and verbally, with each other.  Do people really watch these shows?
• When you are sick and have an upset stomach, cooking shows do nothing to spur hunger — watch to your heart’s content without any risk of calorie intake.
• I can survive without consuming coffee for seven days — that is how long I did not even want coffee, a sure sign I was sick, I am a pot a day person.
• Gatorade, although considered a good drink for restoring balance to your system, makes you thirsty and increases the need for water consumption 2-3 times over the normal.  Doesn’t  this just flush out all those good electrolytes it is supposed to be restoring?
• Almost all of the game show hosts have changed since the last time I was watching daytime TV.  I miss Bob Barker and Monty Hall.
• After a week of consuming practically nothing, the stomach shrinks and those simple little Weight Watcher Smart Ones meals that I once needed to supplement with fruit are now, on their own, almost too much for one meal.
• There is nothing more depressing than to anticipate a huge weight loss based on a weeks worth of next to nothing consumption, only to step on the scale and see only a 4 lb. difference.

Despite all the vast knowledge I accumulated during my time of illness, and even though I have not yet fully recovered, since I have one of those horrid lingering coughs that sounds like I’m ready to keel over and die any minute, I am now back up and once again functioning in society.  I had my first cup of coffee this morning for the first time in seven days…a sure sign that I am on the way to a full recovery.

Here’s hoping I don’t get sick again for several years.  I don’t have time for this , and I seriously don’t know how people who get sick on a regular basis cope.  Ugghhh!