No Flu! No!

I may love the song, but I really do not enjoy being, "Down With the Sickness." My family and I spent the better part of two weeks being viciously attacked by the wonderful, old-fashioned influenza. Thank goodness, my husband was able to use his sick leave to take care of us, then we took care of him when he succumbed to it. Good grief!

I can honestly understand how this used to be such a deadly thing to so many, and I can understand how it still claims lives, today. It is so easy to become so lethargic that simply keeping enough fluids in your body is difficult, sleep is nearly impossible, and taking medicine seems like the utmost cruelty. You hurt, you're hot, you're cold, and you don't wanna move!

It is so vitally important to keep those fluids going when you are running fever. It also helps with the cough to keep a steady stream of clear liquids flowing down your throat when you can, so the junk that makes you cough doesn't get too thick to come out of your airway. I was fortunate to have my husband hounding me, and he even made certain that I was not drinking beverages that were loaded with sugar and caffeine, so my fever would remain manageable, and I would get more rest. (We won't mention the headache from lack of caffeine, though.)

All I wanted to do was sleep to get away from it, but I was not having much luck. Thankfully, I do have a desktop in my bedroom, and I do have things like Netflix.com and Hulu.com. I could not begin to tell you what I watched, but it gave me the background noise that I needed. I have three kids. Complete silence is unnerving to me. I had my contact lenses out of my eyes, so I could not have seen what was playing, anyway. My phone was my only contact with the outside world, via Facebook.

My husband seemed to take an evil delight in forcing medications on me. I have to admit that he is a little justified. I will force them on him when I feel he needs them. I would like to state for statement's sake, "I hate NyQuil." Ew, gross, not gonna happen! Blech! Also, while Tamiflu helps get a person through the flu more quickly, it does mess with the digestive system of some people. I would be one of those people. However, a little digestive upset is worth getting out of the fever-induced Hades of the flu.

By the time Mike started running fever, I was taking no chances, and I got him on Tamiflu, just as quickly as I got the boys on it. My poor daughter had been the one who originally brought it home, and she had missed her window for Tamiflu. I always keep things like that for a little longer, since I have a pathetic immune system. However, she had it the worst, poor kiddo. I was so glad when she finally started feeling better. Mike and the boys whizzed through it, to our mixed relief and disgust. We dealt with this for over a week.

For all my hygienic efforts, all of the cleanly efforts and all of the care I took to keep us from getting something like this, it happened anyway. Luckily, I have a nurse in the family who explained exactly what we should do for something like this, years ago. While I may not enjoy being ill, it is a relief to know that I have to tools to get us through it. Plus, it is a wonderful thing to have a husband who is so willing to drop what he needs to do and take care of his wife and kids the way Mike did.