Finally over the Flu

Three weeks and two days after I first noticed the symptoms, two weeks and six days after the onset of the acute phase of the illness, and one week and two days after I was able to return to ambulatory life (working and such), I can finally say that I am free of any and all remnants of this influenza.

Wow, that was one nasty illness. I can certainly see how this can kill the frail and/or elderly.

I actually had more than the flu, I had the flu first and then I developed a bacterial pneumonia about a week afterwards, which probably opportunistically set-in because of my weakness. The pneumonia responded predictably to antibiotics, so even though that *sounds* like the more serious illness (and certainly, left untreated, it can be fatal), it was actually the easier thing to deal with since I began rapidly recovering after I started taking antibiotics.

The last "phase" of all this, i.e., this last week, was something analogous to having a mild cold. I had a painless but productive cough, I felt sub-par, and I had that nasty metallic "I'm sick" taste in my mouth all the time. Today is the first day that I have noticed that was gone.

Today was also the first day I wanted to be physically active, wanted to clean up the house, wanted to cook, and wanted to do the other things that characterize my ordinary life. I began lusting after random women I see around town again today, which is probably the most robust indication that my body is back to normal.

What did I learn from all this? I have hand sanitizer everywhere (office desk, home desk, by the doors to both places, by the public terminals at work, etc) and I have a new appreciation for why it makes sense to cut sick people slack. Being sick sucks.