(An alternative title for this post could be “the week the germs came to stay.”)
Last week, I had the flu. Or a virus. The doctor—who was unfortunately named Kevorkian—was vague. “Could be the flu. It could be a virus,” he said, shrugging. I was too late for Tamiflu, he explained, so he wrote me prescriptions for cough medicine and a decongestant, and recommended I take it easy for the next 10 days, the amount of time I would likely need to start feeling like myself. “No stress,” he said as a parting gift. Right….
By the time I stumbled into the walk-in clinic to see him, I had been sick for three days, having turned coughing into an Olympic sport. My voice was gone, I had a fever, and I alternated between shivering and freezing. I was tired, and generally unhappy by the state of my health. Being sick is no fun.
In my I-feel-awful condition, I was reminded of a commercial I had seen on television. In it, a woman opens a door, and sticks her head through the doorway to speak with someone. She’s sick, with red-rimmed eyes and a runny nose. “Amanda?” she says. “I’m going to have to take tomorrow off.” The camera pulls back to show you Amanda; she’s a toddler playing in her bedroom, not a boss from work behind a big desk, as you had thought. The commercial goes on to promote a cold medicine, something to help busy parents who cannot get sick get better fast. The next shot is of the mom and Amanda, skipping down the stairs together, all smiles and giggles.
I wanted one of those miracle medical solutions last week, but Dr. Kevorkian didn’t have a prescription for that. His advice was to take it easy, drink fluids, get lots of sleep, and let my body heal. No bounding down the stairs, like Amanda’s mom; the flu kept me out of the office for most of the week.
My husband—who definitely won the #1 parenting award last week—took care of the kids and me, replenishing my tea, buying more juice, making dinner and school lunches, and keeping the kids away from me (though, to be fair, it was daughter who brought these germs into our house, so I should have been staying away from her a lot sooner). He, truly, was my equivalent to Amanda’s mom’s magic medicine.
In between my coughing and shivering, I did manage to learn three new things, or, at least, three observations became clear:
1. It’s okay to do nothing. The hardest part about having the flu, for me, was being unproductive. Lying on the couch, sleeping, barely watching television (those “Real Housewives” shows are awful!), or perhaps reading a book was all I could rally to do. The go-go-get-‘em part of me, the part that manages my to do list, was conflicted. I have so much to accomplish! It seemed wrong to not try to cross one or two (or three) things off the list. Only focus on getting better? It seemed… not enough. My body thought otherwise, and I realized it’s—sometimes—okay to do nothing, to put aside to do lists, to spend time not focusing on accomplishments but on yourself.
2. Being healthy truly is most important. I knew this one before the flu; being sick reinforced it. Being sick is no fun; it really gets in the way of living.
3. Don’t make sick days fun. I learned this one when the virus/flu (in a much milder form) reached my son. Since I still wasn’t feeling 100%, I let him stay in his pajamas all day and watch a movie of his choice (no negotiating with his sister). The next day, he protested his return to school, calling for more On Demand television and pajamas. I had made his sick day enjoyable, and he wanted another. Next time: no television and I’ll make him clean the bathroom.
And because the flu doesn’t like to be alone, the rest of my family, in one way or another, also spent last week sick. (And, we all got flu shots!) We’re ground zero for coughing and sniffling. At least, we’re in this together.
I can just imagine poor R cleaning the bathroom with a fever. 🙂 Hope you’re feeling better soon!
My favorite piece of advice was dont make sick day fun
When my littlest guy was in kindergarten last year, he had to stay home for 24 hours even though he felt fine. I made the mistake of taking him to a store and letting him choose a game. Now every time either of them is sick, they want to go to Target and get a game.
That’s been an expensive habit in this winter of sick at my house!
So glad you’re on the mend. What an awful week! Great advice. I think many times when we’re sick it’s our bodies way of telling us to do absolutely nothing but take care of ourselves. Great job listening!
Dr. Kevorkian? Really? #2 is so very true. We were sick for SO long over here at Christmas too and it really is eye opening. My husband was amazing over here until he got sick. It’s wonderful to be healthy. Glad you are over it!
I have a cold that refuses to go away, and I agree with everything you learned.
Ugh, we just got done with the flu here. It was a NASTY one and totally wiped out my six year old for almost a week! #1 is so important, especially for grown ups! 🙂
this flu stuff is awful! And yet it’s so hard to just stop and heal. So sorry you had to go through it.
Yup, I had the flu over the holidays for over a week, despite getting a flu shot. The biggest hurdle for me was to not feel bad that I couldn’t do anything. And I will never take my health for granted! Whenever I ate anything, I would ask, Is this going to help me or hurt me? If it would hurt me, I wouldn’t eat it. I wanted to get better as quickly as possible!
The flu is the worst! And, since I was in survival mode, the kids totally had fun days!
I stayed home from work on Tuesday sick but I felt so guilty! It’s almost more work staying home than just going to work, but I could never teach a full day and still function as sick as I was.