Irked with Family re: H1N1 Virus November 16, 2009

I guess I must be feeling better because I actually feel up to blogging. Hooray!

Last week, I came down with the H1N1 virus. My symptoms matched the CDC’s list of H1N1 symptoms with the exception of one – I did not vomit. My symptoms began with a “drippy” nose on Monday. It was really annoying. Then on Tuesday, I kept getting lightheaded. I even had to stop a few times during the day to put my head between my knees to keep from passing out. I started my monthly cycle that day, so I chalked it up to that. Then, I woke up on Wednesday with a 101.1 fever – not good.

I very rarely run a fever. On the rare occasions that I do, I either have the flu or some sort of infection (sinus infection or bronchitis). I ran down the list of symptoms for the H1N1 virus, and I had every one of them – fever, cough (it felt like someone was stepping on my windpipe, making it hard to breathe), mild sore throat, body aches, severe headache, chills, fatigue, and diarrhea. I did not vomit, but I was very dizzy and stayed nauseous for five days. It was a miserable experience.

Despite the fact that I ran a fever nonstop for two straight days, was extremely dizzy, had a horrendous headache, and mostly stayed in bed for five days, hub didn’t believe that I had the H1N1 virus. Here in North Carolina, medical providers will not screen for the virus unless you are sick enough to be hospitalized, so there is no way to verify your diagnosis officially. However, I am quite capable of reading a list of symptoms, comparing my symptoms, and making an educated guess about what is ailing me. My sister is the only other person who doubts my self-diagnosis. Of course, neither had a better answer for why I was suddenly running a fever for two days (which peaked at 101.5) and was extremely dizzy for five days. Millions of people have had the H1N1 virus — so many that the president has declared this virus a national emergency — but Faith cannot possibly have it. Or course not!

This experience hearkened me back to my childhood days when nobody would believe me when I was sick. When I was around eight or nine years old, I came down with an “out of both ends” virus while spending the night at my cousins’ house. My aunt drove me home with lots of towels to clean up the mess during the drive. When she got me home, my mother was not happy for me to be returned early. Her response to my aunt was, “She’s not sick.” My exasperated aunt invited my mother to come take a look at the floor of her car for evidence to the contrary.

However, nothing would “reach” my mother. She was practicing “calling things that be not as though they were,” which is religious babble for saying what you want things to be like until they become that way. So, while my mother “spoke over me” that I was healthy, I was an eight-year-old kid who had to take care of herself as I vomited and had diarrhea all over the bathroom.

Fortunately, I do have people in my life (none relatives) who do believe me when I say that I am sick. Friends dropped off food and Gatorade so I could nourish myself. (G*d forbid a family member actually take care of me when I get sick!) A friend took my son overnight so I could get some rest. Thank goodness for the family I have built for myself. I couldn’t get through it relying on my relatives to take care of me when I need help.

Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt