Aut-2B-Home in Bed!

On Sunday, David started getting sick. He spent a good part of Monday and Tuesday, sleeping and feverish. Because David is not the kind of teen who sleeps in until noon on Saturdays, I knew he was not pulling a Ferris Bueller on me.

I had my miserable turn on Thursday. I spent all day in bed, sleeping. Every inch of my body ached: head, throat, muscles, joints, face, teeth, gums. I alternated between sweating and chills. About every hour, I woke up, grabbed some water, went to the bathroom with my head spinning, and headed right back to bed. I slept around the clock and ate practically nothing! Friday, I slept about two-thirds of the day and managed to get down some sherbet and fruit popsicles; yesterday, I took it easy and ate about half the amount of food I normally do. If that was not the flu, then it was a pretty nasty imitation of it.

Unfortunately, Pamela is taking her turn today. This morning, she wrapped herself in a blanket like a burrito and told me, "I feel bad. I need to go to the hospital." She never expresses any desire to see a doctor for any reason. Pamela is the most stoic person when it comes to being sick. She normally exclaims, "I'm not ill," while her sneezing and coughing give her away. I touched her burning forehead and knew exactly how horrible she felt. While I was at church, she threw up and sat on the back porch rocking. When Steve came home from his run, she told him, "I threw up on the bed." Then, she laid on the floor of the back porch soaking up some deliciously warm sunshine before heading back to bed.

What did we do to treat our symptoms? Nothing. I'm one of those oddities who believes that, assuming you have a healthy immune system, the best thing you can do is help your body fight it. Drink lots of water. Rest. Drink more water. Rest. Drink juice if you tolerate it. Did I say rest? When you can finally eat again, have some chicken soup or fruit popsicles for that sore throat. Yes, it is tough and painful, but we have not had problems with bronchitis, lingering congestion, or pneumonia since we started doing this. (We do not have a history of asthma or immune system issues that would preclude the no-pain, no-gain school of treating the flu.) I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on television.