It's the flu. Probably

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So I had to take a sick day today, the first in over two years, I think.

My mom works at a hospital in town. She described some of my symptoms to the people in the ER and as soon as she mentioned the fever and the body aches they were all OMG I HOPE HE DIDN'T GO TO WORK.

Since I'm not supposed to return to work until I've made it 24 hours without a fever, I called in sick for tomorrow too. I have Thursday off.

At least I have a little bit of vacation time left so I can get paid. It's not like I can use that time in November and December anyhow.

I just feel guilty that I had to miss work when we've got three trucks and are starting our big push to Black Friday. But it's what I gotta do.

[MaggieTheCat]

I hear the flu is spreading like crazy in Wisconsin right now. My mom had it really bad for about 24 hours over the weekend. She's still not feeling great but she is a lot better than she was Friday night/Saturday morning. Also, I heard from a friend of mine who works in a public school district in Wisconsin that over 50 teachers in their district (out of 150-200 teachers total) were out sick either on Thursday or Friday (I forget which) with the flu.

Hope you feel better, Irv! At least you can afford to take a couple days off to recover, even though it sucks.

[Chanlin]

I recently did have and was tested positive for the flu.

I also had a runny nose and chest congestion which my Dr said were not flu symptoms. In any case, if ye do have the flu the best thing I can offer if you can tolerate it (I say this since everyone's tolerance to meds is different) but ibuprofen worked loads better for the body aches than acetaminophen (Tylenol) did.

Anyhoo, hope you get better soon

[freeatlast]

I was off for 3 days last week with what I think was just a severe upper respiratory infection. When I returned to work on Friday, my supervisor went home sick. On Monday, they told us that she has H1N1. Hopefully, she will stay away until she is no longer contagious.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I can haz pig plague

Mom told me that 99% of the flu cases they're seeing at the hospital are H1N1 and they're telling people not to come in unless they're having trouble breathing.

So she thinks I have the Swine Flu.

Interesting. It isn't quite the dread disease some make it out to be, but it's still quite a pisser.

[Eric the Grey]

Mom told me that 99% of the flu cases they're seeing at the hospital are H1N1 and they're telling people not to come in unless they're having trouble breathing.

So she thinks I have the Swine Flu.

Interesting. It isn't quite the dread disease some make it out to be, but it's still quite a pisser.

According to a friend of mine who works as a flabotomist (yea, I know that's spelled wrong), the number of H1N1 cases is overblown due to the fact that in order to confirm the disease, they have to perform a very expensive test, which most insurance companies won't pay for. Why? Because the treatment for H1N1 and the ordinary Flu is exactly the same.

My older sister and brother-in-law were both diagnosed with H1N1. I'm hoping to avoid it myself.


Eric the Grey

[MergedLoki]

yea sorry there's no way 99% of cases are H1N1.

I mean i work @ a hospital (and i gotta assume MOST hospitals are doing something similar to mine)

ANYBODY with a cold/sore throat/fever/aches/nauses/vomiting/diarhea (basically 'flu like symptoms') is basically being treated as a positive case of H1N1 as a precaution to staff, other patients, etc. and are being isolated, wearing a mask etc.

until it can be either confirned or denied if they actually HAVE swine flu or not.

i've seen a good number of confirmed cases (basically anyone in the 'maybe' catagory is being sent for a chest xray) but maybe... 25% of my patients have been confirmed to have it (by the time they get to me) the rest are just precautionary measures in CASE they have it.

anyways get some rest, hope ur feelin better

[calulu]

I had H1N1 about six weeks ago and it was just about like any other bout of the flu I've ever had. The media has whipped this into a stupid frenzy. Get rest, drink plenty of liquids and chances are you'll be fit as a fiddle in no time!

[Boozy]

The fact that H1N1 is like any other seasonal flu is of no comfort to me. The last time I had the flu I was so weak couldn't even open my eyes for three days. It took me months to feel normal again.

I'm not high-risk, so if I get it, I know it probably won't kill me. But oh lord I do not want to go through a flu again.

[calulu]

no one wants the flu! I just found that the H1N1 was actually less severe for me than the usual kick my ass and leave me in the bed for weeks flu

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Get rest, drink plenty of liquids and chances are you'll be fit as a fiddle in no time!

Yeah, right.

I think I'm just now getting my appetite back. All this week I hardly wanted to eat, and just about every night I was in bed by 6:30 and out like a light soon after. Even though the major symptoms had ended, I was left so weak for a while after the flu.

I've lost about 10 pounds thanks to this flu.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

*sending virtual bowl of chicken noodle soup*

I've had flu that has whipped my ass before and it will take quite a spell before you're feeling 100% again.

So in the meantime get as much rest as you can manage to, keep yourself hydrated and don't forget to eat sensibly so you can rebuild your strength.

But I'm glad you gave us an update so at least we know you haven't kicked the bucket yet. Just keep in mind I don't do funerals.

[cinema guy]

Yeah, right.

I think I'm just now getting my appetite back. All this week I hardly wanted to eat,

I concur. I too had no appetite and lost a bunch of weight.

[mandaliz8704]

Hope you're feeling better soon, Irv.

I'm sick, too... but it isn't any type of flu or anything. It's chest congestion and a cough. No runny/stuffy nose, fever, any of that. Its great fun coughing constantly when my due date is 9 days away. [/sarcasm]