Stinkerpants

Things I Have Learned from Swine Flu

October 16, 2009 in Miscellaneous Ramblings

(image source)

Things I have learned this week:

1. My parents, who I’ve been visiting in Oregon, are awesome.  I’ve been here almost two weeks and I’m not even remotely sick of them!  I wish they lived next door to me!
2. Good deals can be found at boutique shops–I found a pair of $225 jeans for only $50!
3. I am one of the lucky few who has the side effects of “excitability” and “trouble sleeping” from Codeine.
4. A shot of alcohol really works to cure a cough.
5. Swine flu is extremely contagious, and pretty hideous!
6. If you happen to catch h1n1 while traveling, you are not to get on a plane until your fever has been normal for 24 hours, meaning your trip to Oregon can be suddenly rescheduled to last almost a week longer than you were expecting!

Yes, that’s right folks: I came to Oregon to visit my parents nearly two weeks ago, and I am STILL HERE.  Why?  Because I caught swine flu.  I’m not sure whether it was the airplane from San Francisco or the germ-infested clothes hangers at the Lucky Brand outlet, but those little h1n1 buggers got me.

For the past week, I’ve been feverish, stuffed up, coughing, exhausted and pretty much incapable of taking care of myself.  Luckily I wasn’t in Mexico (where I joyfully caught E.Coli), but at home where my mommy could take care of me.  I feel very lucky for that–a trip ruined by swine flu could easily cost you thousands of dollars in plane tickets and extra hotel nights while you try to recover (not to mention the fact that you probably couldn’t pay somebody to risk infection by bringing you sustenance).  But I digress.

Now that I’ve survived it, I’m actually glad I got h1n1.  After all, I no longer have to worry about getting it! Yay! How’s that for a silver lining?

I am the first person that I actually know who has had h1n1, so I thought the chances might be good that I’m the first person that a lot of you guys “know” who has had it.  So here are a few facts:

• I am young, eat well and exercise pretty regularly.  This thing knocked me on my ass.
• I think I had a pretty mild case.  My fever never got higher than 102.5.
• It started in the mid afternoon on Sunday.  I felt tired and had a tickle in my chest.  By Monday morning, I had a fever, chills, a raging headache, terrible body aches and a cough.
• My fever started to go away on Wednesday night.  I was proud that it was hovering around 100° for the next 24 hours, but terrified that it would “come back with a vengeance,” because apparently swine flu comes in waves.
• My cough got a lot worse (and it’s still bad) but my fever never returned.  I have now had a normal temperature for 24 hours and am planning to fly home tomorrow afternoon.
• My doctor said that there have been no outbreaks of seasonal flu yet this year, so if you’ve had the flu, it was probably had swine flu.
• My parents, who are both over 60, felt a little under the weather, but never got sick.  This might be because they’re over 60.
• This sucks, but it didn’t kill me.

Now that I’ve had it, I have to say:

You may think the world is overreacting to swine flu, but at the end of the day YOU DO NOT WANT H1N1, so wash your freaking hands and stay informed.

Also, if you have any risk factors, ESPECIALLY if you are pregnant, do NOT think twice about getting the vaccine.  You need it.

Now, not to freak you out or anything, but a few months ago my dad (who is a retired OB/GYN) recommended that people who are planning to get pregnant wait until the flu season is over.  He said that there’s no way of knowing how bad this will get (nor what the effects of the medications/treatments could be on a fetus), but there’s one thing we do know: pregnant women are at high risk. Y and I discussed it and agreed that delaying any plans for a few months is definitely worth it.  After all, what’s a few months?  I still stand by that decision and urge you to at least think about it.  The CDC has not made this recommendation, but please keep in mind that making a decision like that would be both a public health AND a political decision, which could cause mass panic.  I think it’s best to play it safe in any way that you can until it’s clear what this outbreak is going to look like.

If you’re already pregnant or have any other risk factors, take care of yourself.  This article from the CDC is very helpful.

This thing is WAY more contagious than I thought it was.  A few weeks ago, my wise friend Rosie said, “I think we’re all going to get it–it’s just a matter of how bad.”  I now think she’s right.  That being said, I hope you all stay healthy!

Wow, I can see Russia from up here on my soap box (as my friend Aimée would say)!!  Climbing down now.

If anyone has any questions about what this was like, please feel free to ask me!