The Flu

Last Sunday, I was feeling just fine, ripping through the desert on a Kona 29er, savoring my last few hours of warming sun before spending five days in windowless classrooms and simulators in an unseasonable cool and rainy Pacific Northwest. By Wednesday I was down hard with the flu. It always blows me away that the transition from well to ill can happen so fast. The last time I caught a cold, it was the day after I noted feeling exceptionally well. How could I feel so good one day and so awful the very next day?

This time, what started as a niggling feeling in my chest Tuesday afternoon had become chills, aches, tight chest and a hack by Wednesday morning. I didn't even want coffee--a sure sign that things were serious. I resigned myself to a couple days indoors--made more acceptable by the craptacular rain storms rolling through the outdoors--and grabbed a mug of Gypsy Cold Care tea, my robe, and a book, and burrowed into the couch. For two days, I drifted between reading and sleeping, occasionally relocating to the bed and back again. I didn't even want food, a sign that I might, in fact, be very near death.

Friday I woke up with no aches or chills and slightly more energy. I set two goals for myself: 1) vacuum the house and 2)walk the dogs. Easy, right? I mean, I had all day to pull off these two simple feats. By 11 am I had achieved goal #1. Shortly after, I collapsed in bed for a much needed nap. Maybe my goals were too ambitious. Maybe I should be happy with my accomplishments. Nearly three hours later, I hauled myself up, strapped on my boots, and wrangled the dogs into the garage to be outfitted with jackets, harnesses, and leashes, and we trudged our way around the soggy neighborhood. Mission accomplished.

I felt confident that Saturday I would be better. The flu doesn't last forever, right? Well I felt like crap. My chest had developed a rattle that surely must be pneumonia. I began to mentally calculate the number of sick days left in my bank and how much of my savings I would have to spend before disability insurance kicked in. I worried I might faint while walking the dogs. But Sunday came and I was still kicking, even feeling a little stronger with a hint of appetite.

A couple weeks from now, I'll be back on the bike and the flu (which I got immunized against, by the way) will be just a distant memory, but right now I wish it would release it's hold and move on to someone else's healthy body.