Flu

We have been sick with Influenza A, apparently of the lineage from the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. The flu vaccine is not effective against it.  The vaccine did work against Influenza B that was circulating in December, only unvaccinated people got sick with that one, but B is milder than A. 

The most common comment from people who had A this year is that they understand how people die of it.  Ali says she knows now how she will die, not cancer or stroke (her old fears) but just a simple flu.  We both got antivirals and maybe they shortened the duration, but they provide no relief for days. 

The first day you just feel weird, tired, have a slight fever and think you "might" have the flu.  The next day is worse and you have a fever all day and can't eat.  Extreme lethargy sets in.  That night is the worst, fever above 103 and you hallucinate and want to die.  Acetaminophen does nothing for it, but aspirin does help a bit.  On the 3rd day you feel better and can eat a bit, but are easily exhausted.  That night you sweat again all night and now the phlegm gets bad and you wake coughing.  Cough medicine does nothing, but a combination of decongestant and expectant and something to knock you out (antihistamine) lets you rest.  The 4th day is much like the 3rd, and you live in fear of nightime.
You might try to go to work, and you'll get dressed and eat breakfast in a daze, then send in for more PTO and go straight back to bed.  On the 5th day you'll make it in to work and check emails, tell everyone you're not contagious because you haven't had a fever in 24 hours and you washed all your clothes, then get a headache and feel brain dead and go home early.

Its mostly just staring at a wall, watching star trek and trying not to think about anything.  The body has taken over and is going through its reboot sequence and the mind is totally superfluous. The body doesn't want the mind to do anything, but the mind feels it has something its supposed to do, it just can't remember what.  Eventually it realizes the body knows best and the mind finally relaxes, gives up on whatever complicated socially-determined pressures it had programmed itself to believe in, and goes along for the ride.