H1N1=Death
Sorry, this is a long-winded, medicated post. Right now, I'm sitting in bed...a place that I have been for 95% of the last four days. I have (drumroll) swine flu.
I got back from APPAM (DC) on Saturday night, bone tired but still feeling good. Sunday was a lazy day, and I started feeling some chills Sunday night, but nothing too scary. I woke up at 4 a.m. on Monday morning to prep my 8 a.m. class, but after spending a good hour on the toilet with my intestines revolting on me, I figured I needed to find a replacement instructor. Thank god one of my colleagues answered his phone at 7 a.m. and rushed over to cover my class. I canceled my second class and figured I'd lay low for a few days.
By Monday afternoon I was in hell. Feverish, achy, and insanely shaky and cold, running back and forth to the bathroom, and taking Tylenol, which made me break out into full on menopausal sweats. I was wearing a pair of jeans and I was so sweaty (yet still freezing) that I sweat through the back pockets. Gross.
Then I found out Kim--my dinner buddy on Friday night--also got H1N1. And that our other dinner mate, my friend Jen, caught a fever and a cold.
Things were worse on Tuesday. My cough intensified, leaving my ribs and stomach muscles sore. My body aches worsened, and the joints in my hands and feet started aching. My heart raced when walking around the house. I found someone to cover my Wednesday policy analysis class, and I was about to email my TA to see if she could cover my Wednesday stats class, when I got an email from her saying she couldn't come to class for a week...because her dad just died. Oof.
I canceled the rest of the week in stats, which just sucks. I hate to lose momentum right now. The students are just starting to get into the meat of regression, and it's my favorite stats subject to teach. I feel guilty that they have no instructional support or continuity right now, but I just can't function.
Tuesday was also my mom's 60th birthday, and she was all set to fly out for a weeklong visit in Bloomington. I called her to say (1) happy birthday and (2) I have swine flu. On one hand, I thought it would be terrible for her to fly out for her birthday visit to play caretaker and possibly catch the flu herself. But on the other hand, I really, really wanted her to come. Bad. My mom is a complete lifesaver around the house, and Saya loooves her. Plus, I'd already been out of town and Kris would be completely overwhelmed taking care of Saya...and me...and work.
True to form, my mom emailed me Tuesday afternoon and told me she'd be here on Wednesday: complete with a Tamiflu prescription, face mask, gloves, and Lysol. Did I feel a twinge of guilt at my mother's self-sacrifice? Yes. But did I feel guilty enough to encourage her to stay home? Um, no.
I did manage a brief visit to Urgent Care on Tuesday night, where I got two prescriptions but was told I didn't qualify for Tamiflu because I'm not in an "at-risk" group...even with a baby at home. Talk about creating incentives to lie to doctors.
Wednesday wasn't much better, and I felt just walking to the bathroom left me out of breath. Wednesday night was tossing, turning, sweating, shivering, half-sleep, half-wakefulness. With sinuses draining to boot. I think the worst part was my racing pulse. Even when I felt exhausted and like telling my body Enough! I couldn't calm down my pulse to a normal rhythm.
Which brings me to today. I laid in bed this morning, contemplating how I am supposed to be perfectly fine and healthy and back in class by Monday morning. Monday morning seems awfully soon. And this morning...I was worse. Now my body was tingling, my joints (and even jaw) felt really tender and sore, and I was starting to feel nauseous. It was the second day in a row where I was too sick to even watch TV shows online.
My mom took care of me today while she watched Saya. It's been really hard not being able to snuggle with Saya. She seems really confused about why I'm wearing a face mask. Anytime she comes into the room, someone shooes her out, which is heartbreaking. But if she gets this frickin flu...just kill me.
Poor Saya also had a pediatrician's visit today. Kris had to take her to get 3 shots. And today she's been a bit tired and fussy and has coughed a bit. We're hoping it's the shots and not the beginnings of a flu.
After Saya's doctor visit, I started feeling really nauseous. I knew I had almost nothing in my stomach. But my body was like "too bad, you're gonna puke anyway." So I spent time throwing up my empty stomach and dry heaving and choking until I was completely dry. When Kris got home from work I'd had it. I wanted an IV and I wanted one bad.
We made it to the Bloomington Hospital ER by 6, where they set me up pretty quickly with an IV. I was so relieved...I happily took two bags of fluid with some intravenous anti-nausea meds, and even though the cold fluid nearly froze me to death, I felt SO much better after an hour or so. The nurses and docs commented on how dehydrated I was. It's not like I wasn't trying to hydrate today. But how are you supposed to stay hydrated when you can't hold anything down and you're back and forth to the toilet?
The ER doctor told me that one of the meds prescribed by Urgent Care (Mucinex D) was like a superdose of Sudafed and said it was the equivalent of drinking (and I quote) "72 cups of coffee" and told me not to take it anymore. She said it would probably cause heart palpitations and lack of sleep, and I thought...hmm...no wonder I couldn't sleep last night.
I was a bit nervous about the nurse. He seemed really out of it, even bashing into the door on his way into the room. He was nice enough though, so I took some time to explain my allergy to the phenothiazine family of medicines.
Well, it turns out he really was out of it. No allergies were noted on my chart, so the doctor ended up prescribing an anti-nausea medication to me...to which I am allergic. But I didn't realize this until the prescription was filled and I SUCKED DOWN THE FIRST DOSE. My mom (saint) looked at the label and said "Wait! This ends in -zine! Aren't you allergic?" Well lucky me. I looked up the medication online and, yep, it is a phenothiazine.
You might wonder what happens to me when I have one of these drugs. I found out the hard way in high school. My sister and I had the flu and were given compazine to combat nausea. The next day, I was trying to eat some udon when I realized that my tongue didn't work anymore. I couldn't manipulate my tongue enough to even swallow a freaking noodle. It was like being in one of those weird slow-motion nightmares, where everything just gets really sluggish and slow. My tongue wasn't responding to any of the commands from my brain. And it was frustrating. Over the next couple of hours, what started out as a weird paralysis in my tongue took over my entire face.
And, dear readers, what ensued was horrifyingly embarrassing. Not life-threatening. Not painful. But deeply embarrassing. My eyebrows became stuck in a position where they were completely arched, making me looked shocked. My lips were completely pursed in a weird, contorted expression. And the best part? My nostrils were completely flared, ALL THE WAY OPEN. I looked like a monkey who just got the surprise of his life (a banana up his butt?) and I had absolutely. No. Control. Over my face. I still remember that because I was traumatized by embarrassment. I remember showing up at the doctor's office with my mom, where they made us wait (wait!) in the waiting room. I was so embarrassed by my face, I hid under a jacket the whole time. Anyway, long story short...it's not a big deal, and the paralysis goes away with Benadryl. But the freaking ER prescribed the wrong meds to me!
Poor Kris had to run out and buy some Benadryl to counteract the meds the ER prescribed. Ugh, I guess nothing is easy. At any rate, right now I actually feel okay. I feel a thousand times better than I did earlier today, I'm not nauseous, and I think my fever's under control. Now I just feel like I'm sleepy and have a bad cold.
Anyway, sorry for the boring long-winded post. I had to vent a bit but now I'm pooped. G'night!
I got back from APPAM (DC) on Saturday night, bone tired but still feeling good. Sunday was a lazy day, and I started feeling some chills Sunday night, but nothing too scary. I woke up at 4 a.m. on Monday morning to prep my 8 a.m. class, but after spending a good hour on the toilet with my intestines revolting on me, I figured I needed to find a replacement instructor. Thank god one of my colleagues answered his phone at 7 a.m. and rushed over to cover my class. I canceled my second class and figured I'd lay low for a few days.
By Monday afternoon I was in hell. Feverish, achy, and insanely shaky and cold, running back and forth to the bathroom, and taking Tylenol, which made me break out into full on menopausal sweats. I was wearing a pair of jeans and I was so sweaty (yet still freezing) that I sweat through the back pockets. Gross.
Then I found out Kim--my dinner buddy on Friday night--also got H1N1. And that our other dinner mate, my friend Jen, caught a fever and a cold.
Things were worse on Tuesday. My cough intensified, leaving my ribs and stomach muscles sore. My body aches worsened, and the joints in my hands and feet started aching. My heart raced when walking around the house. I found someone to cover my Wednesday policy analysis class, and I was about to email my TA to see if she could cover my Wednesday stats class, when I got an email from her saying she couldn't come to class for a week...because her dad just died. Oof.
I canceled the rest of the week in stats, which just sucks. I hate to lose momentum right now. The students are just starting to get into the meat of regression, and it's my favorite stats subject to teach. I feel guilty that they have no instructional support or continuity right now, but I just can't function.
Tuesday was also my mom's 60th birthday, and she was all set to fly out for a weeklong visit in Bloomington. I called her to say (1) happy birthday and (2) I have swine flu. On one hand, I thought it would be terrible for her to fly out for her birthday visit to play caretaker and possibly catch the flu herself. But on the other hand, I really, really wanted her to come. Bad. My mom is a complete lifesaver around the house, and Saya loooves her. Plus, I'd already been out of town and Kris would be completely overwhelmed taking care of Saya...and me...and work.
True to form, my mom emailed me Tuesday afternoon and told me she'd be here on Wednesday: complete with a Tamiflu prescription, face mask, gloves, and Lysol. Did I feel a twinge of guilt at my mother's self-sacrifice? Yes. But did I feel guilty enough to encourage her to stay home? Um, no.
I did manage a brief visit to Urgent Care on Tuesday night, where I got two prescriptions but was told I didn't qualify for Tamiflu because I'm not in an "at-risk" group...even with a baby at home. Talk about creating incentives to lie to doctors.
Wednesday wasn't much better, and I felt just walking to the bathroom left me out of breath. Wednesday night was tossing, turning, sweating, shivering, half-sleep, half-wakefulness. With sinuses draining to boot. I think the worst part was my racing pulse. Even when I felt exhausted and like telling my body Enough! I couldn't calm down my pulse to a normal rhythm.
Which brings me to today. I laid in bed this morning, contemplating how I am supposed to be perfectly fine and healthy and back in class by Monday morning. Monday morning seems awfully soon. And this morning...I was worse. Now my body was tingling, my joints (and even jaw) felt really tender and sore, and I was starting to feel nauseous. It was the second day in a row where I was too sick to even watch TV shows online.
My mom took care of me today while she watched Saya. It's been really hard not being able to snuggle with Saya. She seems really confused about why I'm wearing a face mask. Anytime she comes into the room, someone shooes her out, which is heartbreaking. But if she gets this frickin flu...just kill me.
Poor Saya also had a pediatrician's visit today. Kris had to take her to get 3 shots. And today she's been a bit tired and fussy and has coughed a bit. We're hoping it's the shots and not the beginnings of a flu.
After Saya's doctor visit, I started feeling really nauseous. I knew I had almost nothing in my stomach. But my body was like "too bad, you're gonna puke anyway." So I spent time throwing up my empty stomach and dry heaving and choking until I was completely dry. When Kris got home from work I'd had it. I wanted an IV and I wanted one bad.
We made it to the Bloomington Hospital ER by 6, where they set me up pretty quickly with an IV. I was so relieved...I happily took two bags of fluid with some intravenous anti-nausea meds, and even though the cold fluid nearly froze me to death, I felt SO much better after an hour or so. The nurses and docs commented on how dehydrated I was. It's not like I wasn't trying to hydrate today. But how are you supposed to stay hydrated when you can't hold anything down and you're back and forth to the toilet?
The ER doctor told me that one of the meds prescribed by Urgent Care (Mucinex D) was like a superdose of Sudafed and said it was the equivalent of drinking (and I quote) "72 cups of coffee" and told me not to take it anymore. She said it would probably cause heart palpitations and lack of sleep, and I thought...hmm...no wonder I couldn't sleep last night.
I was a bit nervous about the nurse. He seemed really out of it, even bashing into the door on his way into the room. He was nice enough though, so I took some time to explain my allergy to the phenothiazine family of medicines.
Well, it turns out he really was out of it. No allergies were noted on my chart, so the doctor ended up prescribing an anti-nausea medication to me...to which I am allergic. But I didn't realize this until the prescription was filled and I SUCKED DOWN THE FIRST DOSE. My mom (saint) looked at the label and said "Wait! This ends in -zine! Aren't you allergic?" Well lucky me. I looked up the medication online and, yep, it is a phenothiazine.
You might wonder what happens to me when I have one of these drugs. I found out the hard way in high school. My sister and I had the flu and were given compazine to combat nausea. The next day, I was trying to eat some udon when I realized that my tongue didn't work anymore. I couldn't manipulate my tongue enough to even swallow a freaking noodle. It was like being in one of those weird slow-motion nightmares, where everything just gets really sluggish and slow. My tongue wasn't responding to any of the commands from my brain. And it was frustrating. Over the next couple of hours, what started out as a weird paralysis in my tongue took over my entire face.
And, dear readers, what ensued was horrifyingly embarrassing. Not life-threatening. Not painful. But deeply embarrassing. My eyebrows became stuck in a position where they were completely arched, making me looked shocked. My lips were completely pursed in a weird, contorted expression. And the best part? My nostrils were completely flared, ALL THE WAY OPEN. I looked like a monkey who just got the surprise of his life (a banana up his butt?) and I had absolutely. No. Control. Over my face. I still remember that because I was traumatized by embarrassment. I remember showing up at the doctor's office with my mom, where they made us wait (wait!) in the waiting room. I was so embarrassed by my face, I hid under a jacket the whole time. Anyway, long story short...it's not a big deal, and the paralysis goes away with Benadryl. But the freaking ER prescribed the wrong meds to me!
Poor Kris had to run out and buy some Benadryl to counteract the meds the ER prescribed. Ugh, I guess nothing is easy. At any rate, right now I actually feel okay. I feel a thousand times better than I did earlier today, I'm not nauseous, and I think my fever's under control. Now I just feel like I'm sleepy and have a bad cold.
Anyway, sorry for the boring long-winded post. I had to vent a bit but now I'm pooped. G'night!
OMG you poor thing. This was the saddest post ever. I'm so sorry you're so sick. It sounds miserable. I hope you feel better soon and get over this damn thing quickly!! Stupid nurse...same thing to me when I went to the ER for my eyeball burn...I'm allergic to aspirin and that family. They almost put me in anaphylactic shock the morons!! (and the paralysis story was kinda funny...sorry. ;)
Posted by
Mishy |
November 12, 2009 at 10:10 PM
I am so sorry that this is happening to you. This almost sounds as horrible as ... ! (I'm drawing it in the air). Feel better soon. Yay for Mrs. Nelson and Kris.
Posted by
Unknown |
November 12, 2009 at 11:27 PM
Yikes! I hope you start feeling better soon!
I swear, you almost have to pin a note to your shirt when you go to the ER. I've almost been given penicillin a couple of times, which is usually a doctor's "go-to" antibiotic.
FYI, I'm also allergic to the girlymagazine family of drugs.
Posted by
Brian |
November 13, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Awww, Ashipoo, I'm so sorry you're so sick! And I can't believe they wouldn't give you Tamiflu with Saya at home! Thank goodness for moms to the rescue -- if only she could teach your stats class!
Posted by
Nicole |
November 14, 2009 at 1:35 PM