Real-People Sick 2: A Christmas Sequel

So, about two weeks ago I had The Plague. This was the stomach version of an illness that took me out of work for a day, incapacitated me for about two days and led to no solid foods for almost three days.

As mentioned in a recent post, Suzi had the same bug about 10 days earlier and we’d thought I had sidestepped it – but that wasn’t the case. Thus began my fun times of being Real-People Sick.

Well, about a week after I was sick, which was a good three weeks after she’d initially been sick, Suzi got what we called The Voice Stealing Virus of the Throat. Basically, coughing and lack of ability to speak, at least in a non “I’ve been chain-smoking for 30 years” raspy voice. Luckily, that too only lasted a max of a couple days.

My sickness sequel set in just in time for Christmas. A few days beforehand, I’d felt a slight tickle in my throat and I recall muttering, “I’d better not get sick on Christmas.”

It happened. The Real-Person Sick Sequel had been approved, scripted and shot on the spot.

Christmas Eve wasn’t bad, but I took some cough syrup to try and make things better and thwart whatever might be on the way. Waking up at my parents’ house in Michigan on that Christmas Sunday morning, my throat felt horrible. The Cough had set in, and it hurt in my upper chest. I could barely talk, and it was that same raspy voice that sounded like the woman walking into the store in the movie Fun With Dick and Jane.

Sugar-free = respect the D, even when sick.

Talking was a challenge, so I tried to avoid it as much as possible throughout the day and evening. Same on Monday, our final day in Michigan when we met with about 10 friends for breakfast. It was a bummer, because I’d not seen these people since Christmas the year before and was looking forward to just chatting a bit. But, I did my best to stifle the coughs and keep a continuous flow of water and warm coffee to ease the throat. Sugar-free cough syrup and cough drops were always on hand, and that did help.

We traveled back to Indiana that afternoon and early evening, and I went back to work on Tuesday - but unfortunately was voiceless and ended up going home mid-day. My boss was understanding, since everyone seems to be sick these days, and she was appreciative I felt the need to not torture everyone for the full day with my raspy voice and plague-spreading interactions. The sneezing was in full effect by that time. It's possible I might also be out Wednesday... we'll see how that plays out.

Of course, this has all caused my BGs to run higher no matter what I've done. The Christmas dinner was a larger one with some treats and cider, and so those post-meal higher BGs were just a symptom of that feast. But the sickness kept me hovering in the 200s or higher most of the weekend and through Tuesday. On Tuesday, my sites decided to be cranky, and even two changes didn't seem to appease my fussy pump that kept mocking me with a "No Delivery" alert. I could get only a few units in at a time, and there was no telling whether it was actually in my system doing anything or caught in limbo somewhere. Eventually, I yanked the site and went with injections for a few hours until I could muster up the motivation to put another site in

Oh well. We all get sick, and real-person sick can be just as challenging and bothersome as anything D-related. Here’s to hoping that the Season of Sickness doesn’t linger around any longer, and things get back to normal (you know, chronic condition normal) sooner rather than later. 

And really, I'm hoping this isn't a trilogy... because my birthday is about a month away.