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When the fever hits

February 2nd, 2005 · 2 Comments

Sleeping on the sofa always indicates something is not right at home. Since I woke up sick on Saturday I’ve been alienated from my family by whatever virus has taken over my body. It seems strange to keep my loved ones at arm’s length, withholding hugs and kisses from my kids, waving good night to Ted as I head to the couch. I’m sleeping downstairs on the futon sofa in hopes that Ted won’t get what I’ve got. At first I thought I had the flu, but if I did I probably would still be unable to blog. As it is, the past few days have not been pleasant ones.

I can’t remember the last time I felt this ill. Friday night I felt strange but I hoped I could sleep it away. However, Saturday morning I woke up and I knew something was wrong. I felt too weak to try to go for my morning run and the thermometer confirmed fever. I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping, or trying to sleep, in a fog of heaviness, dizziness and congestion.

Colds and respiratory woes are not unfamiliar to me but it was the fever that hit me hardest. I don’t know when I last had a temperature; at least two or more years ago, I think, before I had three kids. In the midst of my mild delirium I started to wonder why the word “fever” is used in a positive sense, to express “an intense…enthusiasm; craze” (Am Heritage dictionary) as in “Football fever”. I could never be enthusiastic about a fever!

I am grateful that the girls are as independent as they are. If I had been this ill a year or two ago, it would have been much harder on everyone. Ted came to the rescue and cared for me, cooking meals, watching the kids, getting Gatorade and Kleenex at Safeway. It was good to learn to let go, although it wasn’t learning as much as surviving in the moment – who can care about anything when your neurons are too cooked to function?

From the perspective of psychoneuroimmunology, a field in which I once did a little research, I can understand why I got sick this weekend. Michaela’s surgery has been weighing on my mind for years and it’s successful completion probably released some tension in my body. After spending much of January in seclusion, resting and preparing for the operation, we had a busy week and were exposed to many people and places. I was pushing the limits and cutting my sleep short. So I shouldn’t be surprised I am sick.

Yesterday Abigail complained she wasn’t feeling well and today she’s had a slight fever. I only hope the other kids and Ted don’t catch it.

Tonight I feel well enough to try to publish some posts. I’ll see what I can do. Although I’m feeling better I still feel like a need a new nose. Last week How to defuse a nose got me laughing and kept me smiling all weekend despite my delirium….thank you, Anne!

In the meantime I’ll start practicing piano again and see if I can find a gig in a jazz club where I can use my new voice.

coveryourcough.jpg

what I need at home this week!

Tags: health

2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 C.K. Sample, III // Feb 2, 2005 at 6:01 am

    Sorry, you’ve been sick. Kris and I can sympathize. We both have been going through it. I’m just starting to feel normal again today, a week after I was first hit by this bug. Some odd head-cold. I had a fever too, but it was in the reverse. I felt very hot, but I was actually running cold, at about 95-96 degrees F.

    In any case, I hope everybody else in your household successfully dodges the cold (and it sounds like you’ve been rather diligent in avoiding contagion). Anytime Kris or I get sick, we always just say, “Oh, well, I’ll have it too within a week.” Curse of the one bedroom apartment. 😉

  • 2 Bob V // Feb 2, 2005 at 3:39 pm

    Hope you feel better soon.

    As someone who used to suffer from Football Fever, I think I can comment on “why the word ‘fever’ is used in a positive sense, to express ‘an intense…enthusiasm; craze.’ The idea is that the intensity of the craze causes delirium. As a kid I used to have endless dreams of running for touchdowns and breaking tackles. It can practically qualify as a disability (as the girls I knew would certify.)

    Even in the positive sense, “fever” carries with it the warning that passion can look a whole lot like a virus-induced insanity.

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