Home Sick

No, I'm not homesick, but I am at home and I am sick. I haven't felt well since last Wednesday. I thought I was coming down with the flu or something. However, the next morning I felt somewhat better. No flu.

However, every day I have been tired and feel like a low grade flu. I'm slightly achy, certainly can't hold my own attention. On Monday my wife informed me that 3 of my daughters' friends have been diagnosed with pneumonia. I looked pneumonia up on the Internet. It usually has red or pinkish phlegm, painful coughs, soar throat. I do not have any of these symptoms. However, what caught my eye is that 3 million people per year get pneumonia in the United States. Half a million are admitted to the hospital. Five percent of these people will die. Yikes! I don't want to die. (At least not yet - I haven't had sex with Reese Witherspoon yet!)

So I go to the doctor. He asks all those normal questions. He asks if I am coughing. Of course I'm coughing. I cough all the time. A combination of asthma and reflux will do that to you. However, I admitted that I am coughing a little more than normal. He listens to my chest. He asks me to take a deep breath. I breath in and nature takes over. I probably damaged his eardrums with the rocks jostling around in my lungs. He says in addition to my other problem, I have a respiratory infection.

He asks if I'm peeing a lot. Now that he mentions it - yes, I am. Am I dehydrated? Why, yes to that, too. Do you feel really tired all the time? I think he's on to something. I ask if he thinks it's mono. He says not really because my glands aren't swollen, but all signs point to mono. He thinks it's definitely a virus. He sends me for a urine and blood sample. I thought they would call today with the results, so perhaps I'll call him tomorrow.

The good news is that I have to stay home for 2 days - at least. I fight with him vigorously for 0.2 seconds. I concede. I inform my wife of the good news. I could see the look of fear in her eyes. We get in each other's hair when I'm home for more than a few hours a day.

Since I'll be home, I know that I'll get bored. I go to the library and get The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs. I've already read 115 pages. It's really funny - and informative. Did you know that if the wife of an adversary grabs your penis - you get to cut her hand off?

I can't read all day, so I pick up a few movies. So far today I've watched the 1955 Oscar winner for Best Picture - Mister Roberts. It stars Jack Lemmon (one of my favorite actors - check out The Odd Couple and The Apartment. These are funny classic movies.). Then I watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I remember this movie being pretty good. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to have my head checked. That movie sucked. I also picked up The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the 1939 version, Fargo (never seen it), and The Best of Woody Woodpecker, disc 2. This should keep me busy for the next day or two.

And I get to take naps (cuz I don't feel good). I took a 2 hour nap with my 3 month old daughter this afternoon. We both liked it.