Bad week

I have the swine flu.

Well, some kind of flu, anyway. I woke up at about 5am on Saturday with a cough, sore throat, aching joints, and low-grade fever. I seem to already be past the worst of the fever and aches, but that cough is just nasty, and while I'm not actually short of breath, my breathing doesn't feel as free and easy as usual. So I stayed home on the sofa all weekend while Mr E Man went to an awesome Hallowe'en party/sleepover on the Sunshine Coast.

I'm still too sick to do any useful work - I had to lie down for an hour after doing one load of laundry yesterday. My colleague has just emailed to confirm that our flu guidelines mean I'm not allowed into work all this week, even if I feel better. (I'm based in the research building, but the clinical building is just over the road, and there's a lot of traffic (patients and staff) between the two). As soon as my 7 day isolation period is up, I'll be getting on a plane... so I'm going to be horribly, horribly behind when we get back from vacation! Oh well, if I feel better later in the week I'll get one of my colleagues to send me some of the documents I was working on last week. And I can call into my various meetings, if my colleagues don't mind listening to me cough.

I'm thankful for two things though: the timing (the WHO's 7 day isolation recommendation means I'll be OK by the time our flight takes off at 10pm on Saturday), and the fact that (so far!) I haven't had the gastric symptoms that some people have been getting. I hate throwing up, almost to the point of phobia.

So, it could be worse. I have movies, internet, podcasts, books, and kitties to keep me entertained, and Mr E Man has stocked the cupboards and fridge with soup, fruit, juice, and lots of different kinds of tea. I forgot to ask him to pick up some honey, though, and as it turns out, lemon tea with maple syrup is NOT going to be the Next Big Thing. Worth trying though!

I might even get caught up on my blog reading!