Sick With A Flu

Oh-oh..... it's not right to start the year being sick. I woke up with a sore throat the other day and a 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit fever. My body aches all over and I feel so fatigued most of the time. My taste even is not that good making my appetite poor. I was afraid I was brewing with  a flu.

Eventhough I had a flu shot, I still got the symptoms this year. Every year I am always sick of flu so it's not that unusual for me though. Although, I know that I gonna get sick this year but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. Last year I was sick in Spring and now it happened early Winter time.

Well, the flu shot did probably helped me a lot. Eventhough I had it, still there were different strains of flu virus emanating in the air and everywhere. With the help of the flu shot my signs and symptoms was been minimized to a lesser degree rather than having the full-blown signs and symptoms of the regular flu.

All I did yesterday was to stay at home all day, force fluids on myself, and treat my nagging cough and intermittent fever. I was shivering initially and then sweat profusely after I popped some Tylenol tablets. My bed was been drenched with perspiration and I really feel so icky all over after that.

I started to take a Z-pack after I found one from my last year's flu. I took two pills from yesterday then one tablet every day for four daysas instructed by the literature. I was thinking it was viral so a Z-pack will work for it.

The fever started last Friday and now it's already early Sunday morning yet I still have it. I still have to nurse myself for one more day then may be see my primary care physician (PCP) on Monday and get some expert medical advice. I just don't want to take chances and get severely or critically sick.

Eventhough, I don't feel good I still opted to go to work yesterday. I was thinking of calling-in-sick yesterday but heck no...... I didn't do it. I just don't want to start my year calling-in-sick to work. So, I decided to go to work because I'm only on for only one day and I will be off the next day. Anyway, I brought some Tylenol tablets just in case the fever will start again.

Truth be told..... I was right! The fever did came back at 2:00 AM. I felt some severe body malaise all over that time. Good thing I had my Tylenol pills so I immediately took two tablets. Twenty minutes after taking the pills I was sweating profusely and felt uncomfortable so I decided to ask permission from my companions for an hour break.

After I took the break I felt okay. So I continued my work and chart documentation, made my rounds and took my patient's vital signs, and gave their IV medications. Good thing I only have three patients to handle but they're all respiratory patients and all of them had been running fever all night. So I have to wear a mask whenever I go inside the room to protect myself since I am already sick.

So later on when I'm off I was planning to gargle some apple cider and vinegar with salt. I was planning to buy some jicama (singkamas in my dialect) and marinate it in vinegar, black pepper, and garlic salt. Then I will eat it to cleanse my throat. Vinegar is always effective in curing my sore throat all the time. So hopefully, it will work for me later. I still remember my mom doing this to me when I have a sore throat with a fever.

I also remember when I was in my hometown in the Philippines, we used to eat crisp green unripe papaya fruit soaked in vinegar and salt. It really works wonders for the sore throat. So instead of the green papaya, which is rare to find here in most of the Los Angeles supermarkets, I will use jicama instead. I will get some later after I got out of work.

So today, I will be off and I have to just stay at home and have plenty of rest. I will nurse myself all day and hopefully by the time I can see my primary care physician on Monday everything will be all right.

Well, it's no joke though to have a flu and I myself dreaded to have it but with the nature of my job..... being exposed to my patients all the time will render me more prone to it eventhough I always observe proper infection control to prevent it still I will acquire it passively.

I hope I can get over it in just a small amount of time because I cannot afford to be sick that long. Or else all my finances and bills will be in jeopardy. Then I will have to cringe my budget and make other means to cope up with my bills. Aaaaah.......I hope I will get well soon.... fingers-crossed.

Who do you think wants to be sick? I think no one wants it. How much more for me? I don't want to be sick either...... but it seems that illness doesn't chose who to attack and preyed on. Like me... I don't want it  and I always dreaded to have it. It just happened that I was sick at the wrong time of the year. Waaaah!

Well, it was really unfortunate that I was sick at this very early time of the year.... and it happened on New Year's Day..... of all the days. What a bad luck though!