sweasel.com

I figured you were under the weather. Take a nice hot water bottle, another dose, a sleepy cat or two, and get back under the covers.

I never knew about reading in dreams. Don’t think I’ve ever tried to. Things I read give me dreams; I don’t dream about reading. Lately we’ve been binge watching Vikings on the History Channel, getting caught up with episodes missed here and there. This new 5th season is a sword fest so far, which has given me some rather violent dreams.

Supposedly, it has to do with the part of your brain that reads not being active when you sleep. I can occasionally decipher a sign or a line of text on a screen, but it’s all very garbled and weird.

The medical sites on the Internet say you are contagious “five days from onset of symptoms.” You might as well take the whole week off.

And from my observations, that’s about right. Husband had the flu. It hit him so fast, and he came home from work within a few hours feeling poorly. He was terribly sick, and terribly grouchy—just so—so unpleasant. He was sick for eight days. Oh, he did try my patience sorely. But since he took care for me for the whole month of November without a single complaint, I made not a peep. (Of course I was graciously saintly while I was ill … )

I snagged a virus after Christmas – Dec. 28 to be exact. I didn’t return to my feet until Jan. 4.

But … I think it may have been a Hantavirus instead of Influenza. I had a flu shot this past October, no one else seems to be suffering the flu in this area (Manila), and I only suffered from massive body aches, chills, fever and diarrhea – no vomiting, no respiratory complaints.

I’ve been trying to avoid any contact with anyone while suffering symptoms, but eventually you’ve got to venture out.

And the fact that I was cleaning out storage areas that were loaded with dried cat piss, rat and mouse droppings, cockroach residue, and God know what else in a viral stew. Note to self – next time, wear gloves and a mask.

And I’m really not 100% yet – this morning I feel a bit feverish and generally yucky.

And the really important question, more so than “who shot JR.”

is…

Is that an ermine robe you’re wearing in that photo?
bud-ump – ti-shhhhh

I hope you (and of course all the other figmentary readers who are under the “global climate change/bomboflu”) are feeling better very soon.

Pressing question that needs to be answered before Friday is:
“Did unkawill win the Celebrity Dead Pool with Erica Garner or was she not a celebrity?” She died December 30. unkawill picked her December 29.

The flu in SoCal is a whopper this year. Hits really fast (go to bed fine, wake up sick as the dog), headache, muscle ache, fever, fatigue, etc. Lasts over a week. Supposedly the vaccine was only 10% effective. And Tamiflu was out of stock.

Wikipedia had even published a page on the 2018 flu pandemic, but took it down to avoid public panic. Not good for Big Health if we had a pandemic because the vaccine makers sucked hard at their job!

I can trace my flu directly to Mrs Tomfrompv who got it from the grandson who got it from the preschool germ carriers. It’s a whopper.

BTW, Elderberry Syrup seems to work. Not a potions/lotions type, but if it works.

I picked up something the week before Christmas. Knocked me down for a good 6 days. I made it back to work the Fri before Christmas but I was only about half speed. I had to work that Sat and Sun and had Christmas off. I spent most of Christmas sleeping. I still have a nasty cough that I just can’t get rid of. But I spent the day sitting on a beach in the FL Keys, so my cough didn’t seem quite as bothersome today!

I watched a documentary on the Influenza pandemic of 1918. Not the best thing to watch when you’re sick and feel like you’re going to die.

But – 4 out of 10 dying? Whole families wiped out? What a horror that must have been.

The 1918 flu was also notable in that, unlike other flus, it mostly killed healthy people instead of the old and the young.

My dad came down with the flu on Friday and exposed my older son, but my dad is already doing better, and son seems to be fine. So hopefully we have escaped…for now. There were two cases in my younger son’s room at the daycare.

Now the question is, once I feel up to it, when do I dare go in? I work with some terribly, terribly old people. I’d feel awful if I inadvertently. You know. Killed somebody.

Stoaty, you are a good person for not wanting to kill somebody inadvertently, but we knew that already.

It is a serious question, and my answer to you is wait several days. I live in a town that, according to Census Bureau data, has the 8th oldest median age in the U.S. But the first seven are towns that were set up specifically as retirement communities. Ours was not. So, I’m well aware of the dangers of communicable diseases in elderly groups, and I have seen a few very unfortunate deaths from just the sort of nasty virus you seem to have become host to. Granted, these were people in their 90s, but still…

Stay home. Stay in bed. Stay asleep. Your non-confrontational technique for handling adversity is an excellent one. May you feel better soon, and continue to use your illness as an excuse to slurp up hot toddies well after you’re all better.

p.s. The stuff in that cold syrup that makes you sleep is likely doxylamine succinate or possibly diphenhydramine, both antihistamines. When I feel the need for a full night’s sleep, I use a nasty tasting syrup labeled “night-time cough” with doxylamine and dextromethorphan (“DM”), the cough suppressant. I stay away from the cold/flu cocktails that contain acetaminophen/paracetamol.

I had to go in for labs and an EKG today, and tried to stay away from other humans who might be harbouring a flu virus. Do not want to get one!

A friend told me a story about the 1918 flu epidemic: His great uncle lived with his two great aunts on a farm in Indiana. They were relatively young and very healthy. The uncle went into town for supplies on Friday morning and returned by 6 pm Saturday to find the two aunts dead. The flu caused such an extreme reaction in the lungs that people would literally drown in fluid.

Night Nurse sounds like good stuff. If I ever win a dick, will you consider a substitution?

It’s the cough that just won’t die.

And the phlegm. My God, the PHLEGM!!

I had a mild cold that started the Friday after Christmas and is mostly gone now. There was a flu I had in Denver, CO, my first year there (so a new germ pool, methinks). I took stuff that made me sleepy for sure, and I would doze off in front of the TV in the daytime. My half-dreams seemed to mix everything together: Batman was a guest on “Oprah,” Pinky and the Brain were working for U.N.C.L.E., and Susan Lucci was a defendant on “Judge Judy.” Wow.

I think you can’t keep something secret from yourself in a dream. That is why you can’t read anything.

Chicken and egg thing.

If your flu symtoms continue for more than 2 weeks, you probaby developed a secondary bacterial infection and shd see a doc for antibiotics. Dont know if you can get “real” medicine from the NHS, tho. LOLOL

I picked it up somewhere on flights between D.C. and Nashville. 2 days later I was sick as a damn dog. Yes, I had my flu shot, I always do. As a result, this bout with influenza was not nearly as severe and the one I hosted in 95! That said, I was down and out for 10 days and the cough (!) took almost a week longer to exit. I have a dear friend in assisted living that I try to visit every couple of days. She could not understand why I would not come see her. Kept telling me she had had a flu shot. Sylvia, I would tell her, so did I!! Sleep was all I wanted to do but more to the point, it was all I could do! Keep snoring…it does a body good! My rule of thumb is as long as you have even a slight temperature, stay home! And then for 2-3 days after 24 hours ‘normal’. Till then, I considered myself contagious. Sending hopes you feel better soon but give it some time. It’s a wicked, evil thing is this flu!

From the interwebs: “Adults can be infectious from the day before symptoms begin through approximately 5 – 7 days after illness onset. ”

Also: “Workers who have become ill with influenza should stay at home until all of the following criteria are met:

–>At least 5 days have passed since the symptoms of illness began; AND

–>Fever has resolved and has not been present for at least 24 hours; AND

–>Cough is improving (decreasing in frequency and amount of secretions with no associated chest discomfort or shortness of breath)