I've been sick

[fitzw]

Still am, actually.


Had mild reflux problems for a couple of days, then started coughing late Tuesday. Irritating, itchy cough, rather than a congestion cough. Bad enough that I called in sick on Wednesday (I work from home, so it takes a lot to get me to call in sick). No fever, though. I felt recovered enough on Wednesday evening to go to Gongfu class; wasn't really even coughing at that point.

Thursday, though, complete crash. Got out of bed long enough to notify work that I was taking another day off sick, and went back to bed. helwen got hit hard with the same illness sometime around 11:00 AM and came to bed as well. Mostly slept until 6:00 PM (!), occasionally getting up to get more water and use the bathroom. Somewhere in there, I recall that I had really bad chills.

Had some of the most bizarre dreams that I've ever had. No, strike that: One dream that kept going, all day, in which all aspects of the dream could be manipulated consciously, down to the slightest detail.

Got up around 6:00 PM, mostly to say that we didn't spend all day in bed, and to watch a little bit of television (Total Recall). Decided that we weren't going to make it to the end of that movie, or to the TV show that we were interested in watching (CSI), so I programmed the DVR for CSI and we went back to bed.

We were both up all day yesterday, with just a 2-3 hour nap in the middle of the day. Needless to say, I called in sick on that day as well.

We hadn't taken our temperatures on Thursday. On Friday, Helwen had a temperature of 101.2°F, and I had one of 101.3°F.

Now, understand, the symptoms that I've had were primarily that cough (which is enough to double me over -- diaphragm is getting really tired) and some dehydration, plus aches and pains that could as easily come from lying in bed for so long. Helwen added symptoms like skin feeling like it was on fire if something touched it, worse headache, a lot more congestion in her cough.

But somehow I lost 6 pounds this week. I admit that I wasn't eating much food for two days, but 6 pounds? I had to have lost most of that through sweat.

That's a lot of sweat.

Helwen's temperature seems to be back to normal. Mine is still above 99°F (my normal is around 97).

The doctor thinks we've both contracted a nasty bug that is going around the valley, but says that we should call if symptoms get worse again during the weekend. Main thing right now is hydration and carbs.

Comments

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

Thank you. We are better, but not fully recovered. We've entered into stage where mild activity produces a flush response, and hacking and coughing have become routine (and painful). The coughing tends to be worst at night, lying down and trying to sleep. I've been falling asleep with a cough drop in my mouth, because it's the only way to suppress the coughing long enough to get some rest.