This Season's Flu...and then there are the cold virus's too.

I had a flu shot in October.  Both Boyd and I did.  I have asthma so I usually get one.  This season they made a mistake and used the wrong virus.  I imagine it is pretty difficult to guess which bug will rear it's head when.  Boyd and I both got the flu.

Boyd is on his third week.  I had mine back in November.  It seems to last three weeks and starts out as a migraine headache that soon focus's on the sinus.  Exhaustion and achy muscles, fever and sore throat, stuffy head and finally the congested bronchi.  Some lungs might have a wrestle with it too.

I have some bad habits that include my hands touching my face (Ack!!)  I try to keep them washed, (my hands), but I often fail at being sterile.  I am a dirty human.  And I touch things like stair rails and grocery carts, and I like to hang out with the under belly of the infectious society - toddlers.  A toddler's toy contains trillions of angry little monsters waiting for just the right Granny or Gramps to play with.  And then of course, the slime of society - the uninvited sick guest who coughs in your face, touches your doorknob and bathroom sink and gives you a lovely hug or shakes your hand, planting a marching horde in your home and on your skin.

I am a flu Nazi.  I hate it when sick people expose others  And I go out of my way to not share my bugs with others.  Unless it is something that we need to get over and done with (like chicken pox).  Oops...I guess there is a vaccination for that nowadays.  Back in my day, if a kid got the pox, we called the other Moms and invited them over - so we could all get it over with together.  Maybe we should do that with the flu, except that the flu bugs mutate and you can catch another flu...similar, but different enough to make you ill.  And, the grocery and drugstores would run out of Nyquil.

Along with the flu, several types of colds have been making the rounds too.  They do not last as long and are not as mean.  Still uncomfortable, still contagious, but not nearly as painful.  Since the end of my flu I have had three colds.  I guess since I am older now I need to take more vitamins and beef up my immune system.  Boyd has also had a cold.  I don't remember old people getting colds.  Did I just not pay attention to them, or were they immune back then.  I know my parents get sick, but I don't remember my grandparents getting sick...from the 60's to 90's.

Ah well... my hubby is up out of bed again.  I will try to get him to eat, but he has no appetite.  Why did I not get that symptom?  Dang.

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.  I thought it was a made up disease - but it is real.  I've had it for the last 2 weeks and it is highly contagious - so I've quarantined myself.  It is a painful child's virus that causes spots and later blisters that itch and burn on your hands, feet and inside your mouth.  Usually you get it if you are under 5 years old.  My father says that this proves that I am young at heart.  When an adult gets it - it is harsher - kinda like chicken pox is.  A child can have it and keep right on playing.

Staying home - on the couch or in bed for a week is monstrous!  The itching!  The burning!  Death by one thousand cuts - and pour vinegar on the cuts! Then another week moving out to the yard for little bits of time..   Can I complain louder?

The thing I am having a problem with now is whether or not I am still contagious.  The different Internet sites say I am contagious until Jan 30th.  My doctor says I am no longer contagious.  Most of the "spots" have callused over and peeled.  There is still some itching, but the fever is and pain is gone.  My husband and son have not gotten it - and they were both exposed when I was.  The virus travels in human fluids - spit, really.  I got it because I shared cereal with my grandson - who showed no signs of the virus, but had been exposed.  He was a carrier.  

I will not share spit with the people at the grocery store.  But, will they handle the shopping cart without cleaning it?  Wipe their eyes or mouth - unsuspecting that a treacherous virus lurk between the plastic and the metal of the handle?  But - then I think - well, everyone who has the flu has a virus - and most of them go out in public and spread it around willy nilly.  They don't care if they spread their disease.  Why should I care?  But, I do.  Care, I mean - I care.

I imagine if people out in public saw me wearing plastic gloves and a face mask - they may become alarmed.  "What does she have"? they will whisper.  "The plague?  Ebola"?  Talk about drawing attention to yourself.  

So, I will stay mostly at home for yet another week.  When the peeling skin becomes less noticeable, and there are no more red spots.  It is lonely staying home.  And the rejection one feels when people know you are ill - and they do not want to catch it, is quite depressing.  It feels like a total lack of love.  Of course it is not.  I do not want them to suffer what I have.  

Of course, if an enemy of mine where to ramble over to my door - I might be tempted to spit.  If I have any enemies, that is.  I don't think I do.