I GOT SICK!~SCARY EXPERIENCE

After talking to a bunch of people I had picked up on the fact that you don't want to live in Western Pennsylvania right now. Everyone and their great-grandmother is being hit by the same horrible flu strain, regardless of whether or not they had their flu shots, and that people have actually died from this(!!) To be fair, they were all over sixty and must have had some other complications, but scary nonetheless. So I was just chilling (I'd gotten my flu shot about six weeks earlier) and was waiting to get picked up to go to my friends' house on Monday, and I realized that I had a sore throat and a drip. I thought it was the fluctuating weather, because in Western PA it's not uncommon for it to go between 20 and 60 degrees in a day, so I went on to my friends' for my routine Monday afternoon stay. 

I helped the ten-year-old girl surprise her therapist, and I pet the cat, and felt increasingly more gross. I had gotten up at six-thirty for school, and I was feeling tired and the drip was still there, but I didn't really think much of it. Then came dinner time, and we had soup and bread and some other leftovers. I remember stating how I wasn't feeling well, and then one of the older boys (either the sixteen or seventeen-year-old) was talking about how there had been a bad flu going around. Now, as an anxious wreck half the time, I panicked, remembering that people had died (I think I'm a bit of a hypochondriac) and they told me that I wasn't going to die. I finally calmed down and convinced myself it was the weather then at eight, I went home like normal. 

After my dad ate, we set up our game (we have a Wii U and we'd been playing Super Smash Bros and he was getting good at it.) and we started playing. After about three stock matches (three lives each) I started feeling lightheaded and fatigued. It was about nine-thirty, and I told my dad that I thought I was getting sick and had to go to bed. I asked him to get me up in the morning like normal so we could see what was up. I texted my aunt and told her that I thought I had the flu, and she thought it might be a mild reaction to the shot. I went to bed without showering, and that was kinda gross, but I couldn't stand up any longer. 

On a side note, I have an Irish step dancing class on Saturday mornings, and we were doing calf raises in class to practice. That night I'd also been to my winter dance, so my feet were very tired, but I'd rested on Sunday and thought I was okay. Around 2 o'clock in the morning on Tuesday I woke up from a fitful sleep, registered a fever and had a Tylenol, then telling my dad not to get me up and to cancel my tutoring session at nine. I rested/slept most of Tuesday, I watched a movie, and then got very hungry around five (hadn't really eaten all day) so I had some fruit and two cookies before falling back asleep. My dad got home at seven with the soup, and I had about half a bowl before I couldn't stomach it anymore. Then I decided that I had to take a shower because I hadn't done it in almost 48 hours. Also keep in mind that without eating and with all the energy going into getting better, I was rapidly losing weight, and I could see the difference. More on that in a minute. So, as you can go a long time without food,I must have been dehydrated, so I couldn't stand up at this point. If I did I would get very dizzy and I had to hold something. Keep in mind I had been doing calf raises four days earlier. I took a very long, hot bath, because I couldn't stand up, and I never properly washed my hair. When I got out and got dressed though, I ended up getting on the floor and lying down, because I thought I was going to pass out and I didn't want to hit my head. I had to stand up at the sink to brush my teeth and take my cough medicine, but I couldn't. I had to get my dad to come upstairs and help me stand. Then I went to bed. 

After an extremely fitful sleep, I woke up in the night with a fever of 103.2. I could feel it too, and I was either way to hot or cold. When I woke up in the morning my fever was down, but I decided to see the doctor, as I was missing more classes. I went in and was weighed in at 136 pounds. I knew I had been close to 145, just days before and was thinking I needed to loose weight (turns out I didn't!) and the weight loss was scary. For perspective this was the picture from my winter dance...

And here's the middle of my illness!...

And here, the same leggings!...

Yup, it was pretty scary!

After I went to the doctor, they gave my Tamaflu and I began feeling better. Wednesday night: back to playing Mario and stand-up shower. (Also I forced a lot of fluids and that helped.) Thursday night: I ate actual food. Friday night: Cool movie night and I actually got dressed. Saturday: Back to the doctor for urine sample because I got an infection...ugh. Sunday (today) My last day of Tamaflu! Tomorrow is back to school (hopefully) but I'll stay home from my friends' this week!

Anyway, I didn't die, and my dad caught it. and didn't die either. Just, please, for the love of God, drink fluids even if you don't feel like it! Tuesday night was one of the scariest experiences I'd had, and I actually thought I'd faint! Anyway, I hope this was entertaining (and a good lesson in dehydration!)

Good day,
ComradeSarah...