Being Ill...

The weather is changing... and with it is bringing on many fun illnesses, namely colds and H1N1... But I don't really want to get on the topic of H1N1 as I am thoroughly convinced that should I, or someone in my immediate family who has daily contact with The Little Gentleman, contract said disease, that my every reason for breathing and existing will be one of the few who does not survive.... I have once already been told that I am being too obsessive about H1N1, so I have decided to stop thinking about it as much as I can... yet I find out a cousin and his fiance brought H1N1 back with them from NY and its hitting too close to home....

No... the real truth of my misery is in fact The Common Cold. The Little Gentleman accompanied me to work on Wed. eve as I work a somewhat split shift. For the last 30 minutes of work, The Mini Ballerina was already in bed, so to keep The Little Gentleman occupied I read book after book, a full 30 minutes of reading without stopping or drink... Upon returning home and putting The Little Gentleman to bed, my throat continued to aggravate me and I hoped that it was merely the extended use of my vocal chords with no rest that caused the slight pain. Alas, Thursday morning I woke with an extremely sore throat and a fever of 102. It should also be noted that I have a lower normal temp, or cooler as it were, so the thermometer read only 99 under the arm, plus the 1 degree plus the two degrees to bring my temp to "normal". In addition, my voice sounded as if I was coming down with laryngitis. I called into work, which had my boss giggling at my voice, and took the day off. The Little Gentleman went to his fathers as he always does when I go to work (free day care and special time with Daddy, looooove it!) and I did my best to rest. Friday I woke with an obvious cold, but was determined to go to work yesterday and today (which I did!).

The thing about when I get sick, is that I have it backwards. Where the normal person would wake up in the morning feeling sick and get better as the day went on, I am opposite. I wake up in the morning full of energy and not feeling sick, but by the end of the day, I'm so worn out and my nose won't stop running. Case in point: When I was 13 years old, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. For two weeks prior to this, I was running fevers of 104. This was also when we discovered that my normal was lower than 98.6 and therefore the fevers I was running were in the 106 range. I would wake up in the morning and go to school, make it through all my classes, come home, do my homework and then by 4:00 p.m. I was running a fever and laid up on the couch (much to the chagrin of my 3 siblings and father who spent much of their time in front of the t.v., I confess, until I was 20 the TV was a family member as well). I would go to bed early, sleep through the night and wake up with a normal temperature, insisting that I felt well enough to go to school. On those rare days that I woke up with a fever that high, I was taken to the doctors. When the doctors suggested that it was something psychological that was causing my fevers (because they didn't start until I came home) my mom was fed up and took me to her R.A. doctor, who ran one test and was able to determine that I had full blown R.A. Not juvenille R.A. which was common in kids my age, but full R.A. The medicines were able to stop the fevers and I only missed a few days of school. Man I suck! I could have had two whole weeks off, but noooo, my body has decided long ago that the evening is the time to be sick.

I currently have a cat sitting on my hands, making it most awkward to type, so I leave you now to pay attention to my silly kitty while I suffer in my illness... I may be back tonight... But who really knows...

Peace.