Feeling Low

Sunday afternoon I started feeling low. Low as in not feeling well. We visited all the grandparents and helped out with odd chores and things around their houses. By the time I arrived back home I had a low-grade fever and was plain miserable.

Monday morning I had a sore throat and tons of nasal drip. I knew this was causing my sore throat so I lopped around the house watching television and working on the puzzle we got out on Saturday.

By Tuesday I was a mess. I had a fever, sore throat, terrible congestion, and by the evening it felt like I had a weight upon my chest. It wasn't anything I hadn't experienced in my life. I knew it was a cold, but a nasty one. I lay on the couch the entire day watching TLC, bad movies, and ESPN's Sports Center. I was feeling so bad I couldn't even bring myself to harvest my crops.

Yesterday I felt a little better, although the low-grade fever was still lurking. I took my oldest to the doctor because she had been miserable with sinus issues. She got a diagnosis of a sinus infection so we both trooped off to the pharmacy, got her meds, and she went home to bed. Her doctor had suggested that I see someone so I called my doctor. She was on her honeymoon. The receptionist suggested I go to the immediate care center to be tested for the flu.

When I had finished filling out the paperwork at the immediate care center they gave me a mask.

Them: "Since you have a fever."

I put it on and joined the rest of the waiting room some in masks and some without. The mask wasn't uncomfortable, but it threw off my vision. It came up past my nose and settled right around my lower lashes. This made it a tad impossible to see with my peripheral vision. It also made it difficult to blow my nose.

I had to lower the mask and each time I did this, I felt guilty for spreading nasal germs throughout the waiting room. After blowing my nose I would then continue reading the magazine I had found on a nearby table, turning the pages and thus leaving more nasty germs for the person who would pick up the magazine next.

When they called my name about 45 minutes into the ordeal I stumbled up and followed the nurse into an exam room. She took my vitals, and since I didn't have a fever according to her, I could remove the mask. I gulped the air as if it were freshly pumped into the room free of germs and purified. Suddenly the world seemed cleaner, newer, fresher. I felt almost cured.

The doctor decided against checking me for the flu. He diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection, or in layman's terms, a cold. He armed me with the same exact prescriptions I had filled that morning for my daughter and off I went. Later that night my temperature spiked to 101 and I had visions of dying from the swine flu all because I hadn't been tested. I worried for about an hour, took some drugs, and went to bed.

This morning my head is stuffy and the fever is back down to low grade. My nose is running, but the sore throat is gone. I'm disappointed that I'm not beating this like I used to do in my youth. Hell, I would've gone to work like this back in my youth. Now I'm reduced to working puzzles, harvesting crops, and occasionally getting some laundry washed and dried.

Pretty much what I do daily when I'm not sick. Hmmm...