The Week In Review #13

My week can be mostly summarised in just 3 words: influenza-induced misery. Seriously.

I went to sleep early on Sunday night after feeling gradually more tired all day and then feeling a little sniffle coming on. Knowing I've had quite a few days off work due to illness lately, I really didn't want to have to take any more time off. So I tucked myself in bed by about 10.30pm, thinking that a good night's sleep would keep that sniffle at bay. I was wrong. I proceeded to have the weirdest night's sleep I can remember. Feverish, I woke several times during the night, which is extremely rare for me, and felt slightly more delirious each time. I kept feeling like I was having weird dreams that I couldn't understand and somehow felt that the next time I awoke, the meaning of them would become clear. The meaning of my delirious mind state did indeed become clear when I woke to my alarm at about 7am, aching over every inch of my body and in the throws of a fever. I've no idea where this 'flu even came from. Big Sis and Bro-in-Law have both been in good health. No-one at work has been sneezing their germs all over me. I called into work and made my apologies, trying to ignore the incredulity and minor irritation in my boss' voice. I slept most of the day, eating here and there and trying to drink enough.

Each day since then is pretty much a repeat of Monday. Feeling unable to eat too much solid food, I had to text Big Sis and ask her to bring me some soup home. I've slept more than I can ever remember doing before, but have felt gradually more miserable as the week has gone on. The aching muscles abated a little, but the slight sore throat I started with soon developed into coughs and sneezes, streaming eyes and a runny nose. After three days of this, I thought I was bound to feel better on Thursday and should probably return to work that day. When I woke up on Thursday feeling no better than the day before, and very possibly even worse, I burst into tears. I have never experienced 'flu like this before. I thought I was usually OK at dealing with feeling sick, but man, I could feel I was turning into the patient from hell. In sheer frustration, I called my Mum, who is a nurse, for her medical opinion. "What can I do?!" I asked in desperation, trying to hide my tears, "I don't feel any better at all! I'm fed up of it now!" Mum had some work stuff that she couldn't rearrange, so she offered to come and see me afterwards. 5 minutes later, she called back. "Why don't you come here? Dad is going to come and collect you, then he can look after you. Get your stuff ready!"

As much as one wants to be independent, sometimes, one just wants to be looked after. :o) It was such a relief to be able to rest, knowing that there was someone there to take care of me, to prepare some soup, to make sure I was getting enough fluids and generally helping me to not feel so miserable. By mid-morning on Thursday, I couldn't see me being fighting fit in time for Friday. My interview for that job I have been raving on about was scheduled for Friday morning. I contacted the lady who had notified me of the interview and was able to get a new interview time on Monday. The Professor who heads that department will not be available for the interview panel on Monday, so I am praying that this won't disadvantage me. As I've said before, God has worked things out for me in so many ways before now, that I am just having to trust that if He wants me to have this job, He will work it out for me.

It's now Friday evening. To be honest, I don't feel a whole lot better than I did at the beginning of the week. I have never felt so miserable with such an everyday sickness before! I am just praying that I will be well enough by Monday to do well at my interview. To make matters worse, I had been summoned to meet my best friend's new boyfriend tomorrow night and am just not well enough to go. I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to meet him, I haven't seen my friend for what feels like ages and I haven't had an evening out for a good while. Being ill sucks!

As much as I usually love sleep, 5 days of enforced rest has not been my favourite way to spend a week. Perhaps my body is sending me a clear message that I need to look after myself better, and that if I won't, it will incapacitate me so that I have no other choice! I hope the past week has been kinder to you. Even if it hasn't, I hope there were experiences you could learn from. If not? Don't worry, at least the week is over now. :o)