Friday, September 18, 2009...
The last day I felt truly well...
We had friends over for dinner that night and by the time they went home for the evening, my nose and throat had that itchy, scratchy, uh-oh I'm coming down with something feel to them...
By the next morning, I was definitely sick...
And have been for two weeks straight...
I kept hoping that I would wake up one morning and miraculously feel better, but alas, no such luck...
Brian forced me to go to the doctor on Thursday (ok, it wasn't that I was refusing to, I just hadn't been able to get in, but somehow Brian not only got through to the receptionist, he also managed to snag the last open appointment for me)...anyway, Thursday morning saw me sitting with our doctor, telling him my symptoms...low grade fever, aches, pains, chills, runny nose, stuffed up nose, cough (oh the coughing!), nausea...and guess what?
I have the flu...
The flu...
The one that everyone is afraid to say out loud because they think a hasmat team is going to come swooping down and quarantine entire neighbourhoods to try to save us all from the dreaded (ssh!) swine flu...
Now first off, I refuse to call it that bunch of numbers and letters that the media is calling it...everyone I know calls it swine flu (although I do have a nurse friend who says that at the hospital she works at, the staff is referring to it as "heiney"-which I like and have now used a few times myself)...and I know the reason for changing the name was because pig farmers were getting upset because people weren't buying as much pork (but hey, that meant cheaper meat for the rest of us who are smart enough to figure out that Canadian pigs were/are not to blame for this)...
Secondly, a few people have called up to make sure that I'm ok (I am) and wanting to discuss what it's like having swine flu...
It's like having the flu.
Brian, my husband, who is a reporter here in Ottawa, has had to cover swine flu extensively since this whole thing started up and so I believe him (over other media reports) when he tells me that the Chief Medical Officer of Canada says that swine flu killed less people than the seasonal flu last year and that it is no more severe than regular flu this year for most people...which is true every year. If you have an underlying medical condition, you are at a higher risk for getting it (which, being diabetic, means that I am in that category). The bigger problem comes if you develop pneumonia along with the flu (again, I had pneumonia last spring, so I'm more likely to get it again-but so far, my lungs are clear, something for which I am grateful) because you can go from being ok to very ill pretty quickly...but that is something that can happen with plain old flu too...
So. The moral of the story is: #1: Don't freak out if you hear the words "swine flu". Get as much rest as possible (not so easy in this house, but I'm trying) and #2: Don't listen to any other reporter but Brian Lilley. Seriously...
And now I'm going back to bed...
I suspected "Swine Flu" was just a variant, no more nor less harmfull than the usual seasonal variants, but the good thing about all the publicity is the increased awareness of how to prevent many common respiratory viruses which should end up being a public health boon over time. I sure am happy to hear that while not comfortable, you are at least OK.
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