pig herder

the date, Wednesday January 6th 2010, morning. a young 30 something girl is going about her extremely busy day at work when all of a sudden her legs begin to ache. she must have been sitting for too long. she climbs out from behind her desk for a little stretch, a lap around the office to get the blood flowing. she arrives back at her desk and sits back down, a chill flows through her entire body starting at the base of her neck trickling down to the tip of her baby toe. that damn HVAC system, why must it fluctuate from hot to cold so erratically? time travels on into the afternoon, the chills become more frequent and the aches more permanent. a headache begins to take up residence in the base of her skull. busy day indeed.

two thirty rears its head and our girl is ready to go home to die. the aches, chills, and headache have formed an alliance, this way they can gain strength and devour our hero at a faster pace. awaiting further information from two journalists, regarding travel the next day which our girl is booking, was keeping her from an early departure. at this point it was quite clear that something was not right. it was not due to extended periods of sitting nor was it the heating system in the office.

five o'clock finally appears and our girl drags herself to the subway in between flashes of hot and cold. time moves in slow motion.

fast forward to six thirty and a virus unleashed fully. our girl is immobilized, confined to the couch with a thermometer in her mouth. tiny beeping signifies the end of a reading, the device is removed from under her tongue to reveal the number 101.3. the final indication of REALLY sick.

yes it's true, i'm just getting over a lovely bout of Swine Flu. it was horrendous, i don't remember the last time i was so sick. the aches throughout my body were brutal, i couldn't sleep, couldn't find a comfortable way to curl up without pain. then there was the battle between hot and cold. at one moment i was freezing cold and the next boiling hot to the point of soaking wet bed-sheets (pretty, i know). i stayed home from work the next day, naturally, and my temperature stayed in the hundreds. when Damian got home from work i said "i think i need to see a doctor". he started the car up again and i struggled to get dressed. we drove into town to the nearest walk-in clinic. upon entering there was a notice posted on the door with a huge stop sign noting "if you have the following symptoms please ask the receptionist for a face mask right away". of course i had all of the symptoms so, i was entitled to sport the high fashion mask. on top of feeling sick i also felt embarrassed that i had to sit there amongst all of the other patients with this damn mask on. i was a straight up pariah, i should have been whisked off to an island of misfit sickies. Damian took care of my humiliation and made it a lighter situation, he took the pink sharpie out of my purse and began to draw a suave mustache and beard on my mask. i was no longer your average every day (possible) H1N1 victim, i was classy.

after a wait i was escorted into the doctors office where i was told, after noting all of my ailments, that i had just described swine flu to the T! a note was written to my work expressing my duration of quarantine, a prescription for Tamiflu jotted down, and i was on my way.

i was hoping the sickness would be done in a couple of days so i could enjoy my quarantine but no way. this thing was a nasty little bastard. a week after i was diagnosed i was just starting to get over it. i couldn't do anything except lay down. i couldn't eat, couldn't read, couldn't go online, couldn't even sleep (comfortably). it's now saturday and i'm feeling better, still coughing and short of breath but i have some energy back.

i had roses from Damian (along with pots of soup and loving care), calls from my dad and step-mom in Australia, flowers delivered from my Mum & Dad, calls from my little sister (who's baby shower i missed because of this pig bug) to get me through it. i highly recommend avoiding this beast if possible.... especially if you're a woman between 30-40 with asthma.... apparently i was in the highest risk group and was warned to "get thee to a hospital" at the slightest concern regarding breath. i'm thinking this is my fill of illness for the year, i've lost a week and a half of my life in this new year, this new decade, it's only fair i don't get sick again.

i'm not sure why the pigs are so ticked at me, i don't eat them and haven't done so for about 17 years. is it because i still like the smell of bacon when it's cooking? apologies little piggies, apologies all around.