23.5

You have all heard about the various and sundry things I do for myself by myself on a near-daily basis. Well, here's a new one.

Being sick by myself.

To all of you who have spouses or neighbors or moms or sisters or mailmen who bring you warm tea and cozy socks for you while you're sick, I want you to turn to that person and say "thank you." Do it for me.

There are many things that run through your head when you're laying on the couch in complete and udder misery...alone.

"If I die, who will find me?"

"I want to die so who will talk me out of it?"

So from about 11 p.m. Sunday to about 6 a.m. Monday, I talked to myself. I have no idea what I said but apparently, it worked.

You know how when you're sick and the night just seems to drag on and on and on. Yeah, pretty much sucks. I kept getting hot and going to the couch - then I'd get cold and go back to my room. I kept puking every hour and a half.

Then there was the matter of the 6 dogs who I absolutely (most of the time) love. The puppies kept hearing me get up and down so they were crying incessantly at the door. Finally, in my stupor, I let them in. And they have made a mess of my house - at that point, I did not care.

So all night long, it was puke, sleep on the couch, move to the bed, puke while two dogs watched me and four puppies fell asleep on the bathroom rug, sleep on the couch, let the dogs out, puke, let the dogs in, sleep on the bed, spread paper towels over the puppy pee in the kitchen, go back to bed....and on it went.

Finally, for the sake of everything merciful and holy, morning came. And I thought I felt better. So I completely overdid it and then laid on the couch in a shivering pile of muscle and joint pain extravaganza. Most of you know my issues with Lyme Disease - flu and LD don't mix, let's just say.

After sleeping off and on, I was needing sprite and some sleeping meds.

So I mustered up courage and embarked (bra-less and layered with sweatpants, two long-sleeved shirts, a jacket and a scarf) to the nearest gas station, about 3 miles down the road.

LONGEST.TRIP.OF.MY.LIFE.

I made mom talk to me on the phone the whole time to help me not pass out. When I went to check out, the guy was having a hard time with my debit card, at which point I asked to sit down.

"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I just need to get home."

The people behind me in line were some health nuts who were making fun of my $9 tylenol pm. But when I stood to get my stuff, they cleared the way for me and said, "Apparently she needs it."

"Are you okay to drive?" the gas station man asked.
"Yeah, I just live down the road."

As I'm walking to my car, I'm looking for the nearest place to puke. I almost did but refrained.

I made it home and dumped myself on the couch again.

Okay, so, skipping forward to now - Wednesday. I came to work yesterday and today. I feel much better.

The flu I had was supposed to last 24 hours. I made it through 23.5 hours and the flu part was over. Now I'm just weak and icky and tired and I have this weird ear thing going on and I can't hear. And I'm congested.

Whatever.

Now I need to clean my house, scrub it free of germs with what energy I have left when I get home from work. I already started washing the bedding, clothes, towels, etc. - another part of being sick alone that completely sucks. Cleaning my house is the absolute LAST thing I want to do right now.

But, anyway, there you have it. Thankfully this only lasted 24 hours. The last time I had the flu, it lasted 3 days. But that time I had Katie with me. And trust me, just having someone there makes all the difference in the world.