This has been one eventful winter in the P-B-Y
household. A main sticking point has
been the residency of a nearly SEVEN WEEK illness in my body (Saturday will be
the completion of week 7). I have never
in my life been as sick as I have these past few months. If you know me, you can probably guess that I
am an ardent believer in and supporter of vaccines (otherwise known as medical
science). Five years ago, I was stricken
with the flu and it was so horrible that I vowed to always get the flu vaccine. I assumed that this yearly devotional to
medicine meant that I would be spared that painful experience for the foreseeable
future. This was not to be my fate,
however, as the chills, pain and wishing for death descended upon me rapidly
and without mercy.
Getting the flu is the absolute worst. I had to take 2.5 days off from work (but still
send in some lesson plans. sometimes teaching can be the worst.) and had bodily temperature regulation issues for a
good month. When you have the flu, you
can’t watch TV on your Kindle Fire, you can’t eat and you certainly can’t take
care of a baby. I was quarantined and
slept every moment I was home. The residual
effect of exhaustion lasted for about five weeks, during which Theo basically
lost interest in my existence. This flu episode
was followed by both a horrible, six week long cough (almost gone) and then a
full blown head cold. It was the closest
to chronic illness that I have experienced and it was awful. There’s a real breaking of the spirit that
happens when you can’t seem to recover from an ailment. It was terrifying to realize that if I were
ever stricken with an actual chronic illness, I would need some serious mental
adjustment, as my baseline personality is too impatient and dark for me to be the kind
of person to triumph in medical adversity.
Climbing on concrete stairs does not phase him.
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