The Flu

As Robert Burns said, “The best laid plans of mice and men…”

I fully intended to start my weight loss program this week. I bought some SlimQuick pills to help jump-start the process – my thinking is that since medications put the weight on me, medications can help take it off – and even hired a personal trainer to get me going at the gym.

Three days later, I find myself barely able to walk from the bedroom to the computer room. This flu bug has got me down, but good.

It all started Friday morning, although I didn’t realize it at the time. That’s when my joints started aching. I thought it was either “that time of the month” or the fact that my new little girl insists on sleeping directly on top of my hips at night.

By Monday, I knew I was in trouble – but still didn’t recognize it as the flue. That night I called mother, because, as everybody knows, when you don’t feel good you want your mother on hand to take care of you! Well, she’s the one that told me I had the flu. By then I was freezing cold – I had on my polartec socks, sweatpants, a sweatshirt, a Pia’s sweater (those of you from around here will know exactly what that is!) and a wool blanket wrapped around me.

I had to call in sick Tuesday, even though I’ve got a big deadline on the job and there’s no one else to get the work done. I just could not get up. The body aches had gotten much worse, the chills alternated with a burning fever, and the coughing had turned my throat raw to where I could no longer talk.

Some advice: when you’re down with the flu, you might not want to read about the big flu pandemic of 1918… I was really starting to freak out a little bit there, picturing my dead body being found weeks later, lying in bed with my 3 cats feeding off me for lack of anything else to eat.

Today, the symptoms have moved along rather quickly. I no longer ache nearly as much, my nose is now running non-stop, the coughing has subsided a little bit (which is a good thing, since I don’t know if I have a throat left) and I’m actually starting to get a little bored.

I don’t know if I’m up to going to work tomorrow – but I know I really should, if only for half a day.

We’ll see.