Flu?

Insanely busy is my new job, in a world that is not yet entirely mine, but to which I am fully committed. Long days, lots of new responsibilities, overlapping schedules. I only find peace when everyone has gone home—this is the moment I can finally catch up on reading, preparing and take a breathe. And even though it’s a job basically in my backyard, I come home later than ever. The quick thinking that always seemed like too much turns out to be not enough here. One thing is certain: I definitely don’t get bored here!

A vacation is out of the question for now, but when I hear that Barbara O’Neill is in the Netherlands, I definitely don’t want to miss out on it. I’ve already managed to get tickets, but I won’t be completely free from work. The phone rings and I receive assignments in my private email that I have to respond to before I get back to the office. You get the idea of how the dynamics work. Secretly, I’m already crossing one of the first boundaries here.

A few weeks later, the inevitable happens. Early to bed! I never get headaches, but today I do… I think it’s too much, so I’ll just catch up on some sleep (yes, I know… that’s impossible). That night, I wake up around 4 a.m.; I feel hot, my throat hurts, thick mucus is preventing me from breathing properly, and my thermometer reads 38.3. Because I can’t sleep anymore, I decide to get up and, yes… turn on my laptop, because that’s what I do, right?!

Practice what you preach; I don’t want sick people on the workfloor, so I’m staying home today! Hoping that I’ll be better tomorrow, of course. The week has only just begun. A little preview: I’ll be at home all week, alternating between sleep and work. Not the ideal situation, but it’s important right now! Just two more weeks to go, and then it’s vacation time. Time to really recharge my batteries!

 

Best holiday of my life!

They say that the perfect moment for busy businessmen to have a heart attack is when they are on vacation. Let me stick to a milder version: this lady is lucky enough to have caught her second infection in three weeks. This time it’s COVID-19. What is a runny nose for one person is a completely different experience for another. Not like our old-fashioned flu. Severe headaches, muscle pain as if a truck has run over you three times, shivering from the cold and not being able to stop shivering while you have a high fever. So my vacation has gotten off to a great start!

Day 1 seemed bad enough, but the fever keeps rising and we are already on day 3. 40.1°C and I am shivering so hard. When I can no longer control my bladder, I decide to call the doctor. A doctor pays me an exceptional home visit; I am examined (including my urine, which contains blood). However, the doctor leaves without having done anything, I get instructed to call again if it gets worse. I am also asked to have blood tests done by my GP so that these can be taken into account in the urologist’s examination (because that appointment had already been made, but I had postponed it due to being busy at work and my absence during the flu).

Half a day later, I am fortunately no longer Dr. Bibber Operation game! It seems to be settling down now; just feeling really sick, and yes, the only solution is: grog, paracetamol and rest. Only after four days does the test show that this infection is COVID. Fortunately, I was able to call on one of my dear friends to buy me some more paracetamol, nasal spray, ginger and lemon, so I can pamper myself with all my homemade remedies (you can probably guess what the Soulfood Sunday item will be).

Time, rest, and patience (really my strongest qualities… NOT) is what everyone around me keeps telling me. Don’t go back to work too soon, because with COVID-19, your body reacts differently to stress. A week later, I still have a bad cold, but I’m already better than I was last week. My sleep is completely disrupted. Whereas I used to go to bed between 10 and 11 p.m., I now first fall asleep between 2 and 3 a.m. Fortunately, I can still work my hours, but it’s not really normal to get out of bed around 10 or 11 a.m. and still feel like you’ve hardly slept. I’m like a zombie, but hey… at least I’m not green with bruises all over my body.

After two weeks, it’s really time to get back to work, but it’s hard! My energy is already gone by 2 p.m., so I have to work shorter days to make sure I can get back to work the next day. How long do you have to rest, for heaven’s sake? I’m already going crazy doing nothing.

3 times a charm

A month later, I am reasonably back on my feet when I notice that I am finding it increasingly difficult to ‘run’ around the company. It’s as if I’m a seasoned smoker with COPD. I’m having more and more trouble breathing, I’m out of breath and wheezing. I could always apply for a some sexy job answering phones, haha. I also get stabbing pains in my liver; I always thought it was your spleen that acted up when you exercised. Oh well, I guess it’s all part of the deal.

“My GP wonders what my deal is. Why I just can’t give in.”

Or maybe not! The next morning, I had a fever: 39.2. Here we go again. How can I show up at work now? They’ll see me coming! The doctor doesn’t really understand what my problem is. Why can’t I just give in to it? “Why not?” Well, maybe because I’ve been sick three times in a month and a half? How reliable am I for my relatively new job? And why is this happening? Am I not up to the job? Am I in the wrong place? Or is perhaps something more serious going on than I’m willing to admit?

A respiratory infection for now! Three in a row! I really have no idea where to go from here. Solutions are not easy to come by, but through work I got the address of a good acupuncturist, so if I want to be back on my feet quickly, I’ll just have to schedule my appointments!

I will be happy to let you know what acupuncture does for me in next week’s blog! For now, I wish you a wonderful day, evening, or night’s sleep! ♡

 

 

SUMMARY

In just 6 weeks, I got 3 infections in a row!

• • Gift 1: Flu –> high fever, sore throat – heavy work schedule
  • Gift 2: Coronavirus –> high fever, chills, insomnia, extreme physical exhaustion – vacation
  • Gift 3: Respiratory infection –> shortness of breath, wheezing, stabbing pain in the liver – so I give in and call in sick.