The Flu....

[freedhardwoods]

SUCKS!!!!!

Everyone around here has been passing it around for a few weeks. Some get a short, mild version, and then others (like lucky me) get the whole thing. One positive thing about it for me is it's not intestinal. (This is where I would insert the dancing banana smiley, but I gave it to him and he can barely wave, let alone dance.)

WARNING - Some of the following may not be recommended for people with queasy stomachs.

I am coughing a lot. It isn't a dry cough. I am bringing stuff up every time. The first 2 or 3 days, it was dark brown, but it's looking a lot better now. I tried cough medicine, and I swear it made me cough more.

The first 3 days the fever would really start hitting me about 7 or 8 pm. I may have been asleep, but the dreams/hallucinations kept me "working" all night and I was exhausted the next morning.

When I could sleep it wasn't free. If I slept for an hour, I'd wake up and have to cough for a couple minutes. If I somehow managed to sleep 3 hours straight, I would go into a 15 minute, intense coughing spell. I discovered that the gag reflex over-rides the cough reflex.

To add "injury" to insult, the coughing made me throw my back out on Friday. Now it hurt to walk and cough. After a couple days of using our inversion table for a couple minutes followed by 5 minutes on our Clark Excerciser Elite every few hours got my back straightened out.

I felt better Monday morning and made an easy, 370 mile round trip run. I was tired (not sleepy, big difference for me), but didn't feel bad all day. I woke up yesterday and I was back to feeling like crap. Not sure where that "good" day came from. Maybe the good Lord threw it in knowing I need at least a little paycheck.

I suppose that is enough gory details for now. I haven't been posting much anywhere in the last few months. I have tomatoes and peppers in my grow box. Maybe I'll get a pic later. Right now I'm going to go curl up in my corner and pout some more.

 

[Larisa]

I am shocked by your medicine ... It's not the flu. Perhaps, bronchitis or pneumonia. You have to do chest X-rays. It is necessary to identify the lesion. Then the doctor prescribed antibiotics and also bacterial preparations of living microbial cultures intended to correct microflora. Or probiotics. But cough medicine is useless in this situation. I am very sorry.

 

[ninnymary]

Wow, freedhardwoods, you are really going through a tough time there. It sounds too severe and much more than a normal flue. I'd go have it checked out. Hope you get better soon.

Mary

 

[digitS']

Try to get your vitamin C!

You probably need protein to rebuild some body tissue, too.

Difficult times. I hope you have had some help taking care of yourself and keeping the olde machinery running.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Flu, bronchitis, cold, sinus infection -- any of these are no fun to have any time of the year. Stay away from me. I don't need to get sick!

I hope you're over the worst of things and on the road (not for your job) to recovery and playing in the garden.

 

[baymule]

I feel real sorry for you. I didn't get the flu, but I got some kind of crud that wiped me out--a week before my DH had complete knee replacement surgery. First time in 6 years I've been sick enough to go to a Dr. Needless to say, I never got to act sick, I had to keep going. Two days after DH came home, he started getting my crud (on a weekend-naturally) so I quit taking my cow bolus antibiotics and gave them to him so he wouldn't get as sick as I was. On that Monday, his Dr called in medicine for him, which knocked it right out. Mine lingered for a month and required another round of antibiotics.

My back hurt from coughing too. A hot toddy with bourbon and honey did more to paralyze my cough reflex so I could get some sleep, than anything else I tried.

I hope you get to feeling better.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I read in the paper over in Washington there are 4 cases of swing flu and in Idaho we know a couple of people who had the stomach flu a week or so ago and was bad with fevers and nonstop vomiting and now they are sick again and they said it is the Swine flu. This is a man and his little boy about 6 years old. DH sure does not need this. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[freedhardwoods]

8 AM - I think I'm on the upswing now. The fever didn't come on me last night, I slept a lot better, and when I did wake up I had very little coughing. I'm still really weak.

I work with the Amish every day. This bug has gone through the whole community; even forcing them to close one school for a week. They all say the same thing. If you get it bad, it lasts a week and leaves you exhausted for a week after that. You know it's hitting hard when they just give up and go home for a few days.

As far as medicine and doctors go, I know they are necessary in many situations, but I think most people run to them too much. I rarely go to the doctor or take medicine. My wife got the cough medicine. I tried 2 doses and decided that was a joke, so I just hunkered down and waited till I got better like I've done most of my life when I got sick.

10:30 AM - Cabin fever finally got to me. With rain coming and the garden covered with wild violets, and I don't have the energy to run the tiller, I decided to mow to help the ground dry out after the rain.

15 minutes of mowing, came in and warmed up something to eat, and now I need to rest up.

Seeing all that dirt out there in perfect shape to be tilled up and can't do anything about it is driving me nuts.

11:30 - Raining now. Maybe I'll try to walk around a little this afternoon when it quits.