Just shy of a month ago I started feeling a little weird, under the weather but thought maybe it was because I was painting and the paint fumes were irritating my lungs.
The coughing go worse while at work the next day. So I realized that I might actually be catching the flu and as the day progressed I could feel my body temperature rise like a thermometer and the dull aching muscles and joints that come along with a fever. By the time I got home my temperature was up close to 102F.
Fortunately, my family left me for a long weekend to go visit family. I was very busy at work and since I only get so much vacation time and I already have 1 week of my 2 weeks secured, I try to hold tight to my days off so I can do things with the kids this summer. So the only beings I had to worry about for a couple of days were my dog and myself.
Tuesday the fever went up in the morning I called the doctors and got an appointment for that morning. I called into work and explained that I thought I might have the flu and would prefer working from home so as to not contaminate the office any more than I did the day before. My fever was non-existant when I got to the doctors so he figured I had bronchitis, prescribed me a Z-Pack and some Hydrocodone cough medicine and told me I didn't have the flu. My family came home and I told them I had a fever and that they needed to stay away because I'm assuming its viral and the last thing I wanted to do is get my son sick with a bad cough. That certainly would have caused an extreme asthma issue. The fever came and went all day long on Tuesday. I decided since it was bronchitis that I'd go into work on Wednesday. Bad idea! I made it until 4:45pm and I just fizzled. The fever was back in full force and I just felt like I had been sacked by a defensive lineman. My ribs hurt to the core!
Thursday rolls around, and I'm still sick with this relentless fever, cough and aches so I again worked from home. Friday morning I woke up and I felt even worse - fever hanging on tight. Worked from home again.
I had quarantined myself in my bedroom with no physical contact with my kids. The fever finally broke the following Monday during the middle of the night so I was able to go to work Monday - but I still wasn't able to hug my kids because I wanted to be fever free for 24 hours. Everything I read about the flu virus was that you were contagious up until you were fever free for 24 hours.
My family left me for 4 days, I then was sick for 4 more days with a fever - by day 6 I was itching for a good hug from the kids so I but on a scarf and washed my hands really well and hugged each child with all my might.
That was shortly after Jon came home with the kids after being out with friends and he told me Donovan crawled into the lap of the "mom" friend of ours and asked for a hug. I cried, I actually sobbed in the shower because I wanted that hug and I felt horrible how my child wanted to hug me but I wasn't letting him. Trying to explain to a 4 1/2 year old that Mom isn't hugging him because she doesn't want him to get sick was hard. He didn't truly understand. It was for his own good.
Sometimes when you think you are doing the right thing, you're not. In this case my germaphobia-ness got the better of me and I should have just soaked myself in purell and put on a scarf the day they arrived home from their trip and give them the much needed hug we all needed.
Lesson learned - there is a large amount of "value" in a hug.
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