1 post tagged “flu”
That's what the Doctor's 'stick-this-thing-in-yer-ear' thermometer read yesterday.Depending on where you went to school, that's between 2.7 and 3 degrees celcius above normal. No wonder I felt like death and kept wanting to doze off at a moments notice. The doctor congratulated me on what he regarded as that days record and the fact that I could still stand. Sort of.
This Winter has apparently been one of the worst on record for influenza attacks in Australia. I know of quite a few - including me now - who've been taken out twice by this virulent bug. Mine started with the standard head cold, sinus infection, etc. Easily treated, even though it laid me low for a week with incredible facial pain, copious nose blowing, blocked ears and the rest. The anti-biotics I was given - ten days worth as opposed to the usual seven - seemed to do the trick, even though I was left with a nagging chest cough and runny nose. At least I could hear again and my face didn't fall off at irregular intervals.
I finished the last of the antibiotics on Saturday. By Tuesday I was feeling tired and achey again. Then on Tuesday night I knew I wouldn't be getting up very quickly the next morning. It was that quick. Every joint and gland in my body started to ache, the chest cold got rapidly worse and by 4:00am the next morning I was bundled up in bed wearing a tracksuit,AND dressing gown shivering my little heart out. Of course, being a virus there's nothing medical science can do except offer sympathy and the old sages of advice like 'rest up, plenty of fluids, and chicken soup'. Yes, that's what my Doc suggested....chicken soup. Medicine hasn't really progressed very far, has it.
So, as I write this, I realise that I have no sick leave left, and will probably be into annual leave by now. Does still taking phone calls from business connections, while you're trying to assuage a fever with Nurofen Plus, still count as work?
A word to the wise......or if you've been like me in past years, the foolhardy. Come Autumn, get your flu shot. I'm being made more and more aware as time passes that I'm no longer as young, fit and vital as I once was. I'm fifty in six weeks. I think if I want to make sixty, it's time to start with the more considered health care regime.
