Well, this is day nine of what is confirmed to be “the flu.” I prefer to think of it as “a” flu as I was vaccinated against “the flu” and I don’t want to think that the vaccination was for naught.
Regardless, if you are unfortunate enough to be wondering if you too have The Flu here’s a rundown of how it’s progressed.
Days 1 and 2: tiredness, general feeling of being run down, beginning of clear runny nose. Headache. Slight nausea.
Day 3: Nose is now running literally like a tap. If you remove the tissue in your hand that you’ve being steadily wiping your nose with–even for a moment–your nose will run into your mouth. At first this will gross you out. Then, as you develop more symptoms it becomes merely annoying. The headache and nausea continue.
End of Day 3: Your upper lip begins chapping, your nostrils as well, you develop a non productive cough, you are still feeling run down and it’s getting worse. By evening you are bedridden. You have hot and cold spells. Your cough deepens and you begin to hack up mucus. Your nose is slowing down a bit on the running and instead you are getting very congested. You sweetly (though your voice comes out like a growl) ask spouse after a very rough night if he will get the the following: Robitussin Cough DM, Vick’s VapoRub, Tylenol, chicken soup, and before he does all that would he make you a cup of tea because you’ve become averse to all things cold. Headache comes and goes. Nausea under control as long as you are flat on your back.
Day 4: Your head is clogged up–one ear closes but your nose still runs. You go through massive quantities of Kleenex. You test your sense of smell by trying to smell the (usually very pungent) VapoRub. You smell nothing. Your deep cough continues but the Robitussin is helping you get some rest. You are still very weak. Your upper lip has turned hard and crust-like. You decide in a moment of impetuousness to peel it off. The next morning you look in the mirror and see that you are missing the top part of your upper lip. Both ears and sinuses are completely stuffed. Your head aches. You smell and taste nothing. Thank god for texture. You don’t get around to showering this day and you don’t care.
Day 5: You continue what has now become ritual, Robitussin every four hours (you are not even dismayed that it has started to taste good), slathering on of VapoRub on your neck and upper chest. It has a very faint aroma. Your stuffy ears are hurting so you take Tylenol. Your nostrils welcome the periodic slathering of fish-oil ointment to sooth and keep them somewhat healed. Blistex is coated on your lips twice as often as the fish-oil cream ‘cos it comes off faster. You still have zero energy. It is horribly cold outside and your next-to-the window bedside position provokes you to burrow further into the covers. All cold things are yucky, including water. Earl Grey Tea tastes (feels) wonderful and provides a level of comfort. You energy level hasn’t changed. It is still non-existent.
Day 6: Very much like Day 5 except that after attempting to act like a family member and joining them for a chili dinner you regret it later when you find yourself writhing on the floor in agony, forehead beaded with sweat. You wish you’d had the chicken soup. Your younger son comes to your bedroom door to say goodnight. From your fetal position on the floor you growl in what passes for your voice that you are having “an issue” at the moment. After about an hour of writhing the pain subsides enough that you can swallow a couple more Tylenol. You have a miserable night wondering if the stabby pain is from a strained muscle from coughing, from the chili, or worse case something new, maybe an issue with an ovary? Oh please, don’t let it be an ovary.
Day 7: You are trying to get caught up with computer-related stuff and for a brief couple of seconds it’s as if a small wind tunnel has opened in your left ear. Then it closes. You have a slight increase in energy but your cough w/ phlegm is still in full force, all things sinus and ear-related are plugged. You still slather on VapoRub though you can smell it a bit more pungently if you inhale it deeply from the jar. You do this several times to prove that something is functioning.
Day 8: You have not stepped outside your home since this started but you have a Cardiologist’s appointment today that you’ve already rescheduled once. You seem slightly better so you decide to go. The waiting room has only people old enough to be your parents in it–plus 2 women waiting on their elderly father and they too, are older than you.
The two women’s incessant chatting is only mildly annoying as both your ears remain plugged.
This is only the second time you’ve been to this doctor–a heart failure specialist. The guy you’d seen for years moved away and referred you to him.
His office has converted to new technology as of the 1st of ‘08 and he needs a nurse to walk him through accessing my info. My numbers are “great.” (He had ordered up a battery of tests including a sleep study upon our first meeting.) My blood pressure is high-normal. I suggest that my being sick is most likely the contributing factor but he’s having none of it.
He begins to tell me everything I already know. I could/should lose weight (though I’ve dropped a couple pounds since last visit) He asks me the most insane question ever. What do I want to weigh? I want to LOL. I’ve been “a big girl” All My Life. I typically put on 5-10 lbs. each winter and then take it off in the spring summer. Very much like the bears. Even so, I should probably lose another 20 pounds on top of that but him having me keep a “weight diary” is not going to do it because I’ve tried that oh, 20 times before and it worked and then when I stopped keeping the diary because it is an obsessive behaviour which I couldn’t stand–when I stopped being on a diet my weight came back. Can we go back to how my numbers are great?
He blathers on. He knows nothing about the mentality of a fat girl though I catch a sympathetic look from the nurse that is still with us in the room. Here in the dead of winter having not exercised in over a week I weigh four pounds more than I did when I took off forty pounds ten years ago. I did that because I was newly into heart failure and radically changed my diet from typical American to low sodium and fairly low fat.
Mr. Fancy Heart Specialist Guy has no idea about how much I have obsessed about my weight in my lifetime. About how devoted I am about sticking to the low salt/fat thing and regular exercise. He just dispenses his “wisdom” like Pez candy. Specialist: stick to your area of expertise because when you wander away from it you sound like a stoopid-head and you offend me. I know I should drop more weight. I will continue to work on it every day for the rest of my life. Can I go now?
Day 9: Today. My ears hurt. My nose still runs, I still have the cough with phlegm. I am getting energy back–for housework–ta-da! I have some dizziness which has been the norm throughout this adventure and which I blame on equilibrium issues due to the clogged ears.
Mr. Heart Failure Specialist Guy answered my question on Day 8 about if there exists any decongestants that are safe to take with my heart meds (he cannot remember the name of the chemical I should avoid) by telling me “not Sudafed,” and that I should talk to my pharmacist because that’s what he gets paid paid for. Pharmacist is helpful. I get home and read the box–for which I was carded(!) and it’s a generic which proudly touts it’s similarity to…Sudafed. I take it. I get a crushing headache and have the feeling that my skull is being squeezed.
Tags: , family, flu, flu symptoms, heart failure, In Sickness and Health, me
