My Battle with H1N1 Type A Influenza

Orange, Texas — Unknown to me, my battle with the H1N1 type A influenza began on a Sunday morning around 9 a.m. My symptoms started out mild and eventually got worse. Thankfully, I was able to overcome my symptoms in just a couple of days. Here is my story and what I did.

Sunday

My Sunday morning began with a roaring headache that made me want to rip off my head. The headache was so bad at times that it made me want to vomit. Normally, I do not have headaches nor am I the type of person that can find a headache at the drop of a hat to garner sympathy. But by 9 a.m., I wanted sympathy. I popped a couple of Aleve and headed off to church where I am sure I unknowingly passed my germy invaders to several others. But at this point I had no fever, and just figured I had a rough night’s sleep. As 11 a.m. approached and I sat down from leading worship services, I noticed my neck and joints were tired and achy. My wife noticed I was lacking my usual energy, and she began wondering if I had worn deodorant; I was drenched in sweat.

As soon as I got home from church, I lumbered into the bathroom to discover I had a 100.5-degree fever. Great. How many people have I just passed this on to? I climbed in my pajamas, made a couple of phone calls and locked myself into the bedroom so to not infect my wife and children. I then slept through the early NFL games and woke up with only a 99-degree fever. Woohoo, I thought… I’m better. I grabbed my computer, did a little Web research, watched the evening football game and decided to go to bed early.

Monday

Monday morning, I woke up hoping to feel better. As I attempted to step out of the bed, I am sure I looked like a 90-year-old man. Every joint in my body ached, and I felt like I had just been run over by an 18-wheeler — not once, but twice. Upon taking my temperature, I was relieved to only see a reading of 99.5. We called the doctor, got an appointment and slipped in wearing one of those hideous masks. My doctor told me my symptoms were the same as so many others who had tested positive for what he called H1N1 Type A influenza, so he prescribed me some Tamiflu told me to go home and get some rest and not go anywhere for 24 hours after my fever broke. Yes, sir!

Within just a few hours, the Tamiflu was able to take away many of my symptoms. I had hoped to watch some Monday Night Football in the quiet solitude of my bedroom, but quickly found myself staring at the back of my eyelids.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning about 4 a.m., I awoke to find myself lying in a wet bed. I instantly thought to myself that I felt like I could actually get up and run a marathon. Obviously my fever had broke. I took my temperature and sure enough found the normal reading of 98.4. A twinge of disappointment sat in as I realized work was now a certainty for Wednesday. I climbed back in the bed and was thrilled when I woke up at noon. I never sleep more than 6 or 7 hours a night... but to my amazement I had just slept for 20 hours out of the possible 24 hours in a day. I was careful for the rest of the day Tuesday to do nothing more than walk to the refrigerator.

Wednesday

Back to the office where some of my co-workers have decided to place onions all around themselves. I wonder if that really works? My only lingering side effect from the H1N1 Type A Influenza was exhaustion. I found that throughout the day on Wednesday I just wanted to take a nap. So I did.

To date, nobody else within my family has come down with the H1N1 Type A Influenza, and I hope it stays that way. I believe that by locking myself in my room, getting plenty of rest and doing what my doctor told me to do had helped relieve my symptoms quickly. I am also convinced that my battle with the H1N1Type A Influenza was short lived due to my amazing ability to sleep. My advice to anyone who thinks they have come down with H1N1 Type A Influenza is to make sure to sleep, take your Tamiflu and don’t go out in public without a mask. Hopefully, my flu experience for the year is finished… I could only be so fortunate.