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February 27, 2006
The Plague
Cough, sniffle, snort.
I’m sick. Again. George, too. Our two-year-old, happily, is on the mend from last week’s illness (and is back to running around saying, “I LOVE trains! I LOVE trains!”), but my dad and step-mom, who came in for the weekend, are now sick. My dad has spent the past two days wandering around with a small garbage can clutched to his chest, turning green whenever I ask him if he’d like something to eat.
"Want us to order in? We could get Mexican. How does a burrito sound?" I offered.
"Gah," my dad groaned. "Please stop."
He really shouldn't have teased me so much over the past thirty-plus years. Payback is a bitch.
So today kicks off the fifth week where someone in my house has been sick. Four straight weeks where at least one person has been coughing or wheezing or hacking up nasty green stuff or having projectile vomit. Fun, fun, fun.
My second bout of bronchitis in two weeks left me with laryngitis and a plugged up ear all at the same time.
“I feel like Helen Keller,” I croaked.
“Except she knew sign language,” George replied. “Stop trying to talk.”
“I wish I knew sign language,” I whispered gloomily.
When this all first started, George and I were calling it The Crud. As in, the sort of nasty little infection that starts of feeling like a flu and quickly blossoms into ear and bronchial infections. But now that it’s gone on so long, and now that we’ve infected at least two additional people with it, I’m starting to think that it might just be a resurgence of The Plague. I’m just waiting for someone to come by and paint a big black X on our door.
The last time I was this sick was my sophomore year in college when I got Mono. But the nice thing about that illness was that all I could keep down was hot tea, and I ended up losing twenty pounds, and so I had that nice heroin chic look for the rest of the semester.
Since the only thing I want to eat now is sugar – preferably chocolates – I don’t see that happening. In fact, I’m pretty sure that after a month of sitting around (too sick to run), noshing on Valentines Day chocolates, I look more like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man than Kate Moss.
So is anyone else under the weather? Come on, fess up. Misery loves company.
Posted by Whitney at 6:55 AM | Comments (7)
Comments
I'm so sorry you're sick!! Huge hugs (in a non-contagious way) to you all. We had a horrible December - every one of us got sick - TWICE each. I walked around NY in the snow downing DayQuil like candy. And of course, last week, when the book was due and Navy Guy was gone on the ship, Princess got sick and had to stay home from school. Then I hit a migraine hard this weekend in post-book reaction to no sleep, too much coffee, too much stress. Seriously, writers need special super-huge Vitamin C, don't you think???
hugs,
Alesia, battling a cold
Posted by: Alesia Holliday ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 27, 2006 7:55 AM
Chicken soupy hugs to both of you.
We have been obnoxiously healthy this year. We had only one person hospitalized in all of 2005 (if you don't count emergency room visits) and she was only in for two days. The kids have been freakishly cold-free. I chalk it up to making sure their diets have a lot of preservatives and processed sugar. That which does not kill you . . .
Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at February 27, 2006 11:20 AM
Sorry you're sick! Your house sounds much like mine. We were all sick at Christmas, and since then every time one of us has gotten over the horrible hacking-dripping-sneezing gook, another one has come down with it. As much as I hate being sick, I prefer it to watching my 2-year-old suffer. It's awful to hear what sounds like the cough of a 60-year-old smoker come from his tiny little body.
Posted by: Brenda at February 27, 2006 11:36 AM
We had the plague at our house this year as well. As long as it doesn't get to the point where you wander the hallways yelling out "bring out your dead.. bring out your dead..." you'll make it. I find hot tea, naps and copious amounts of bad daytime TV makes for a good cure.
Posted by: Eileen at February 27, 2006 1:15 PM
Hey, I think the kids and I had the same thing... now I know who gave it to me! I mean, we've never met but we live in the same town so it must be you. ;) I ended up having to go to the doctor to get on antibiotics for it. Usually that clears it up within days but I was at the end of the dose before I felt better. Although the way this cold and flu season has been, I was kind of sad to see the horse pill over with... who knows what else I avoided while on it. Hope it clears up soon and you and your dad can enjoy the visit!
Posted by: Amber at February 27, 2006 4:25 PM
Oh man, nothing bonds a family like a stomach bug! We have an eight month old baby girl running the house now, and she got the stomcah flu two weeks ago. Just when I thought I couldn't possible change any more of those diapers (which held nothing, by the way) I got a small reprieve...in the form of my own stomach flu. This continued until my husband woke me up and said "Go get the baby, I have to vomit!" So we argued over who was "sicker" and who got to lay around instead of taking care of the babe. It sucked ass.
Posted by: Lauren at February 27, 2006 5:26 PM
Sorry to hear about you being sick! I'm still recuperating from surgery so have been doing a LOT of knocking on wood and avoiding people to try to keep from getting the crud myself.
Posted by: TeresaH at February 28, 2006 2:15 AM
