Subdued by the Flu from Hades

Well, I had my first sick day in years. My first NON-surgical sick day, that is. I was at work last fall (in the old job) when I came down with appendicitis on a Thursday. I worked Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. I finally called the doctor about my excruciating pain and she told me I better go to the ER immediately. So I did the logical thing and finished up my work for the week before driving myself to the ER.

I had my appendix out about 2 hours later. I remember calling Therese, asking her to close my curtains and take care of the dog because I was in the hospital, about to have surgery. She was fabulous and didn't bat an eye about helping out a friend in need. It was also midterm week in school and I had two massive midterms the following Monday (Stats) and Wednesday (Law). I stayed home from work a few days, giving myself time to study. And yes, I took those exams!

I had another sicky experience during midterms during spring semester of 2008. I came down with a terrible flu bug at 7:48 on a Sunday evening. My midterms that semester were Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The Tuesday night midterm was for US Healthcare Policy and the professor was a nazi from Hell (and that's being nice). I floated through work those couple of days, holding the flu symptoms at bay with massive amounts of medication. Then I finally went to take the three hour exam and my fever flared up badly. I distinctly remember putting the exam paper up to my face; the coolness of the paper felt fabulous next to face, on fire from the raging fever! One of my friends in class always laughs at this story. That's how I truly know I'm sick...when I want to put papers on my face to cool the fever.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon. I had several key presentations on Tuesday, one regarding Corporate Ethics, one to lay out my strategic plan and obtain buy-in from senior leadership, one to lead the stroke designation planning efforts, and one to explain my house-wide savings tracking and how I've documented $4.6M savings for St. Fozzie's.

It was in that last meeting, the stroke designation committee, when I fought the temptation to lay my face on a stack of paper to cool my hot face. Prepared for the occasion, I ran back to my office and took a large gulp of DayQuil, right from the bottle. I survived that last meeting and at 5pm, drug myself back to my office. Facing stacks of files, reports, and charts to review, I succumbed and laid my head down on my desk. I swear I had a quick dream and was startled awake by my secretary dashing in to give me a few messages. She laughed and told me I needed a cab home. I purposefully left all that work at the office, so I wouldn't be tempted to work last night.

I woke up this morning at 5am, unable to even get out of bed. The body aches made me feel like I was in a car wreck, the shaking chills were downright terrible, and my throat felt like I swallowed a batch of razorblades. I was supposed to be on the road today, visiting physician offices for physician partnership and recruitment. Blech. My personal philosophy is that if I can get out of bed, I go to work. Well today, I couldn't get out of bed. Literally.

So I texted Elvis and EVOO. Elvis wrote back within a few minutes and this was his response (verbatim): "If u r sick u should take care of urself. Hope u feel better 2." This is the regional CEO talking in "teen-ese." I cracked up at his shorthand response, then broke out into a wracking coughing fit. Thank goodness for kleenex, Vick's, apple juice, and Theraflu!