Swine Flu

Yep. I was a victim of that rascally H1N1. Except, I'm not certain of the diagnosis, since I never got swabbed. I was prettty sick though. I had a fever for several days, rigors, severe body aches, severe headaches, abdominal pain/nausea, diarrhea, deep dry cough, runny nose, and overwhelming fatigue.

It. was. not. fun.

The worst part was being stuck at home. Seriously, I don't do boredom very well. Come Monday, I was super excited to be going back to school, except my rotation this month is really chill and so I find myself bored and healthy, which is an even worse combination than bored and sick... at least when I was sick I could just sleep some more. Now I just sit around wishing I was busy. (I realize how stupid this complaint is, since the last 3 years have been spent wishing for gloriously full nights of sleep and days full of idleness).

Anyway.

So the worst part about getting sick is the loss of all exercise capacity. I remember getting the flu during Christmas over my senior year of high school, and then going back to cheer practice in early January and not being able to get up off the mat after a routine because it was soooooo exhausting. I actually have a vivid memory of seeing greenish halos and blue stars as I gasped for breath on the mats at gymnastics. Until I got sick, I'd been running and doing dvd's pretty regularly, but now it's like my lungs have never exercised before. I tried to ease myself back into exercise by walking the 2.5 miles to school every day, but to no avail... This morning I tried to go for a run, but about a block away from the house I started wheezing, and I knew I had to turn around. Sad.

But overall I have to say: life is pretty good! I had my first interview, finished the last big exam of med school, will be visiting Lid this weekend at Notre Dame, and have a bunch of travel upcoming! Hope all's well with everyone else, too.