Sitting here in the livingroom smelling the remnants of yesterday’s fire, Christmas tree for company and Mythbusters on TV. Pumpkin pie and coffee… I started my work day early today trying to get ahead of any curve that might be coming my way when “normal” people come in. Something tells me it’s going to be a long day.
The flu brought on a flare. My fingers are not happy and my knee/ankle/foot combination are very very not happy. I’m thinking that working from the couch with my feet propped up on the coffee table might be my very best bet for the day. Yesterday my knee/ankle was very bad by the end of the day. Bear barely bumped my knee and I winced in pain. I sat on the floor watching the turkey for the last half hour of the turkey cooking time… watching to see if I could see the timer pop up.
The turkey was very very greasy. The skin wasn’t the yummy crispiness that Thanksgiving’s was. But it was a good turkey. The ham was ham. Dinner was really good, though.
Today, I’m thinking back over the last year, trying to psych myself up for the rest of the day and trying to be gentle with myself. Tiger Balm fills the air. I have checked the weather report fifty times. It’s not going to get cold. I’m almost as disappointed as my son that the weather refuses to turn seasonal. It’s going to be 47 degrees today. It’s going to top 50 again tomorrow. I really really want to see the cold and the snow. Logic dictates that there is lots of time for the season to turn cold but Christmas is Christmas and it was far from white.
The holidays are not over yet. There are still hours and hours of potential stress and festivities. Whatever you do, remember to be gentle with yourself. Be gentle with your body and take time for absolutely nothing… it can certainly pay off.
What did I learn from having the flu?
— be very VERY careful in a race situation. You come into contact with the germs of thousands of people and, an already compromised immune system, germs are germs.
— no matter what anyone thinks, the doctors, the CDC and the vaccine manufacturers all agree… the flu shot is reasonably effective in lowering your chances of the strains of flu that are included in the vaccine, not the ones that aren’t. It will not prevent the flu and anyone who comes up with the snarky remarks about you should have gotten the flu shot and you wouldn’t have gotten the flu if you would have just been smart and gotten yours is full of… um… themselves. BUT this is assuming that the CDC and the Doctors are a little more edumacateded up than Lucy Lou and Skippy down the street are.
— the flu sucks. All kidding aside, I don’t ever know if I have hurt in that really horrible all over hurt worse than the day I actually came down with the flu.
— when they tell you it takes a week or more to feel better, they aren’t kidding. It takes a week. And with RA tossed into the equation, the absolute exhaustion and continued run down feeling hangs on even longer.
If you have a compromised immune system… get the flu shot. The more variables you can take out of your health equation, the better your chances are of getting through the season without coming down with something that could land your butt in the hospital (or worse).
And… it’s time to get on with my day. I hope I’m wrong about what is going to hit the fan today with everyone out of the office… but… for now, I’m going to try to get done what I can while I can.
I hope you all had the Merriest of Christmases.
A Figment Of Fitness 