Influenza A

I did everything right...I got my flu shot, washed my hands, disinfected, you name it.  Working the front-line in a walk clinic makes it hard to stay healthy.  Two weeks ago I had "haemophilus influenzae", which is caused by a bacteria unlike the flu we think of, so a round of antibiotics fixed me up.  And eye drops for the pink eye that came along with it.

Friday afternoon I asked our nurse to take my temp - I wasn't feeling right.  It was a low-grade fever, but I started taking Tylenol immediately.  The loud barking cough that went with it was starting to indicate Influenza (the viral kind), so I promised I'd come in the next morning to get looked at.

That night was a nightmare of unproductive coughing and fever delirium.  My FitBit says I got 52 minutes of sleep.  I was coughing so hard I would sometime retch with dry heaves, causing my face to break out in red spots.  My throat felt like it had been flayed open with razors, and I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I got in the car and went to the clinic, which was a scary drive in itself.  I found myself weaving a bit, but made it there.  The provider and nurse both took a look at me and said "you have influenza based on how sick you are", but I wanted proof, since I had always relied on the flu shot to keep me safe.

Sure enough, the test showed Influenza A.  It made me think back to a day about 5 days before, where a family of 6, all anti-vaxxers, came in, all obviously very ill.  And they all had Influenza A too.  If they had their vaccines, would they have avoided the trip to the clinic? 

I went home with my Tamiflu and cough medicine, and went straight to bed.  I still couldn't sleep, but I had no energy to be anywhere else.  The TV was blinding, and when I tried to eat 2 sugar snap peas, I threw them up. 

Today, 3 days later, I still have a fever, my throat is raw, but my cough has subsided just enough to snatch a couple minutes sleep.  And just the effort of writing this is proving too much.  I need to head back to bed.