Days 196 and 197: Delirium

Day 196: Sustenance 

Cranberry Juice.

Day one of hell:
5am - Wake up in a cold sweat with nausea.
7am - After 3 agonizing trips to the bathroom, call in sick. (Temperature: 100.8)
9am - Give up on going back to sleep and make a feeble attempt at ingesting food.
10am - Pay for trying to eat.
11am - Fade in and out of consciousness. (Temperature: 101.4)
2pm - Start ingesting Cranberry juice because nothing else will stay down. The aches start.
4pm - All of my joints are inflamed.  The aches get so bad, I check my temperature again to see if I'm as close to death as I feel. (Temp: 102.9)
6pm - Get a blessing from Dad, try to walk around to alleviate the pain.  My hips feel like someone smashed them with a baseball bat.
8pm - All of my limbs suddenly gain 300 pound each, can't pick up small objects or move my head.
10pm - Gratefully drift off to a fitful sleep after the Advil finally lowers the fever.  My last thought, "I wonder if my hip bones are being eaten by microscopic bone termites with sharp teeth?"

Day 197: The Sickbed

My home.

Day two of hell:
6am - Wake up feeling hardly any pain and get excited that I can go to work.
7am - After an emergency trip to the bathroom and checking my temperature, I call in sick again. (Temp: 101.7)
9am - Try to go back to sleep to escape from the nausea.  Mom visits me and tucks me in.
11am - First attempt at real food after I wake up feeling a little better. (Temp: 101.3)
2pm - It takes me 2 hours to eat my very small lunch, but it stays down!
4pm - Start feeling strong enough to brave the stairs and walk around a bit.
5pm - Shower and clean up my sick room a bit, then rest for another hour from the exertion. (Temp: 100.9)
8pm - Hope reigns as I check my temperature and find the fever has finally broken on its own! (Temp: 99.6)
10pm - The "stomach" part of the flu retaliates, but not with gusto.
11pm - Blissful sleep.