Feeling Less Than 100%

Well, I seem to be recovering from the worst sickness that I had in years.

Earlier this week (in fact, it started over the weekend), my son started feeling under the weather. He felt very ill, and his temperature was very high. He was burning up.

So, I took off on Monday, so that I could watch him, since he was not going to school.

However, by Monday evening, I was myself beginning to feel the first symptoms of being sick, with a bit of congestion. Hopefully, I thought at the time, it would go away.

Unfortunately, it did not.

By Tuesday, I was feeling like I was burning up myself. In fact, there were times when I felt dizzy. Also, there was an overwhelming sense of fatigue. It was not just sleepiness, but also my arms and legs felt much heavier than usual. As a result, I had to sit much more than usual, and really struggled to get through my work shift.

I knew right away that I would have to call out for the next day, if not two.

Well, it has been two days now, and I am feeling better, at least. Not one hundred percent, or really anywhere near it, frankly. I am still sick, although not to the same extent that I was feeling early on Wednesday. In the wee hours, I was feeling this unshakable chill, and could not get warm no matter what I did. Putting extra layers on was not enough, and there was this annoying chill that simply would not go away. I was so cold, my teeth were almost clattering.

But then, a few hours later, I was dying of heat. I took off the layers, and even went outside just to try and cool off, but nothing worked. It was one of those deals where I simply could not get comfortable, and where I felt the urge to do something - anything, really - to find some measure of comfort.

And here's the thing: I have slept more in the last two or three days than I ever remember sleeping in such a time span before. At some point, I literally had slept something like 27 hours in a span of around 37 hours, or so.

Still, that seemed to go a long way towards allowing me to feel better. It was strange, and it makes you feel like you are wasting the day away - especially when the weather is as beautiful as it had been this week. This is the kind of week where you normally would want to go for a hike or do some outdoors activity, yet I was not in the shape for that kind of thing.

I had to gargle warm water with salt, just like in grade school days. It worked, the swelling and the pain in my throat seemed to have receded quite a bit. However, I have to admit that I almost gagged the last time that I did it, and am afraid to try it again, although I probably will have to.

As I sit and write this, my ribs and torso are aching, presumably from coughing so much. It would probably hurt quite a bit if I could take a deep breath, although whenever I try and do that, the tickling in the back of my throat brings on a coughing spell, and it is a sharp, painful cough. It sounds something awful, yet it feels even worse, if you know what I mean.

Also, I am not looking forward to another night sleeping on the couch, although my girlfriend wants me to stay away. Nothing personal, she says. Just that she does not want to get what I have right now.

Can't say I blame her.

In any case, I just wanted to explain why I have not been writing so much here these last few days, but m energy level was at a minimum, as was my focus. Things seem to be improving at the moment, but again, I am not operating at 100% just yet.

Hope all is better for you guys!