I want my mojo back and I want it back now. I knew something was wrong last week when I started experiencing hot and cold flashes at night. I knew I was sick but I didn’t think I was THAT sick.
Fiona had been battling that fever off and on since the previous Saturday. Finally I took the girls to the doc’s office. Low and behold I get this Q-tip stuck up my nostril and tested for H1N1.
We knew Fiona didn’t have it because her tests previously for H1N1 and Strep Throat came back negative. Unless of course her test results were false? I’m still a little skeptical as to why her test results would be negative considering how sick she has been lately.
The doctor comes back in the room and says, “Yep.. you have it.” I’m thinking to myself but out loud, “I have what?” He’s busy writing something on a piece of paper. I’m thinking that maybe he tested me for the flu. So I ask him, “Could the shot have caused this?”
He flips around and says, “You didn’t get any shot from my office. They are rationing the shots and saving them for the Children’s Hospitals. I’m a bit irritated. They act like I don’t see Children in my office.”
I’m like, “Uh.. we had the flu shot last week right here in your office.” He was like, “Dear.. you have Swine Flu. I thought you were talking about the H1N1 Vaccine.” I’m like, “I have What!?” He said, “You have H1N1.. you know.. Swine Flu.”
Great! I knew I was feeling like crap for a reason. I knew it was bad but I didn’t think it was THAT bad. I mean.. we had been staying home because the kids were sick. So I was racking my brain trying to figure out where I picked it from. There is no telling. All I know is that the only time we left the house was to get our flu shots but now thinking back on it I must have picked it up when I brought Fiona in to get her Flu shot. She was sick at the time the rest of us got our flu shots. So I had taken her back to the clinic to get hers. There were people in the lobby waiting with masks on. I can’t think of any other time I could have picked it up.
I’ve been in bed since last Thursday. Today was my last day of Tamiflu. The syrup with Codeine that he gave me helped me so much. But that first night after finally being diagnosed with H1N1 made me realize that this was why I was having such a hard time breathing. It felt like my chest was on fire and had a hard time breathing. The left side hurt but I wasn’t sure if it was because of all the coughing or if it was just because I was sick.
I totally missed Halloween. I spent the entire day in bed watching Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. It was some sort of all day Halloween marathon. It was pretty good for the occasion. Creepy but good.
Here we are … it’s Tuesday and I’m so much better than I was last Thursday but boy am I tired. I hope I get my mojo back soon. I am sick of being sick.
03/11/2009 at 9:41 PM Permalink
I’ve got my mojo, (whats left of it) working for you, Angela. Take a couple of swigs of codeine for me!
04/11/2009 at 7:32 AM Permalink
I hope today you get some of that mojo back today! I’m so sorry you’ve been sooooo sick. This cold/flu season really is gonna knock us all on our butts! I hope you guys don’t get anymore sickness for the rest of fall & winter. I think you’ve had your fair share x10!
04/11/2009 at 6:51 PM Permalink
I took quite a bit of that syrup the doc prescribed. It was helpful. I am opting to save the rest of it for another rainy day. I hope to God I do not get the Swine Flu again because I have heard through the grapevine that the people who are getting it for the 2nd time have had to be admitted to the hospital and it’s not a pretty sight. I am getting my Mojo back. I’m going to try and attempt to take Princess Fiona to school tomorrow. That means I have to remember to keep my mobile on so that I can hear the alarm go off. It’s the most obnoxious sound a mobile phone can have. I’m planning on getting back onto the treadmill here at the house on Friday. Trying to go slow. Easy Does It.
05/11/2009 at 8:54 AM Permalink
Angela, you can’t get the same influenza twice. At least not in a short period of time. Once you have had it, your body develops a natural immunity that lasts; sometimes for life, sometimes less, but in any event the immunity lasts longer than one flu season. That’s how vaccines work; they stimulate your natural immune response without actually giving you the disease.
What might be happening when people think they are getting the same flu again is relapse. You think the virus has run its course, but it hasn’t. Then you over-exert or do something else that allows the same infection to make a comeback. You should continue to rest, drink lots of water, etc. until the bug has been eliminated. Be careful; avoid a relapse.
While you can’t get a new infection from the same strain of virus in one season, the fact is that there are sometimes more than one type of flu circulating in your neck of the woods at the same time. You can get two different flu infections, either all at once or back to back. Immunity from one may not extend to the other.
Some strains of influenza have a course of infection that affects you in stages. The 1918 Spanish flu made it’s victims think they were getting over it and then it came back. But this is not a case of getting the same flu twice, it is still the original infection. Again you can’t get the same flu twice if you have a relatively normal immune system. If you could, no vaccine would work.
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I’m not a medical doctor, but my liver condition means that a serious flu infection could very easily kill me. For that reason, I’ve spent much time studying the subject. The best way to avoid viral infections is to avoid other people who have been exposed.