Sick

I am just getting over a touch of the flu. On Saturday my throat felt rough so I got some lozenges and began to take vitamin C pills. By Sunday morning I had aches, a headache and chills. I did go to breakfast but then came home and rested all day.

I slept all day today. I was coughing off and on all day but most of the other symptoms seem to be clearing up. Let's hope they do.

Flu Season And Canadian Identity

Sometimes I go through cycles of being healthy and busy then sick and overworked. I find this blog tough to work on sometimes because I want to give a personal view of Victoria and Canada. When I get busy online I don't feel very Canadian. I become a citizen of the world.

Sickness is the great equalizer. The rich and the poor; the old and the young: all get sick and sometimes become helpless. The workaholics stay with their families and the hermits find comfort in talking with strangers when they have to go out. Nobody wishes to be alone when they are sick.

Some professionals seem to get every flu bug going around. Teachers have a hard time because illness moves fast among the children and the bug never goes away. Sometimes a class can through a whole school year without having all the students present.

I have had a few 'sick days' but thought flu season was over. Then in the last week I have been tired and sore. I am not alone.

In British Columbia, the influenza season tends to peak in December and January, but this year there were few cases in those months, said Dr. Murray Fyfe, a medical health officer with the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

"We thought we might have dodged the influenza bullet for the year, but in the past week or two, we've started to see cases now emerging," Fyfe said. (via CBC)

Here in rainy Victoria we like to tease our fellow Canadians around this time with jokes about their snow and our gardens. (Gardeners are already putting out compost and/or cedar shavings.) The wind and cold rain reminds us that winter isn't over yet. Flu season reminds us that we are like everyone else in this country. We get ill and look outward. In conversations with relatives in other provinces we find common ground in our pain.

Patriotism takes an odd turn during Flu Season. When O Canada plays at hockey games or other events we don't wave flags. We wave our tissues or hankies.

Cheers.

(Originally posted at Topics from 192 countries.)

My Colour Is Blue

I am fighting a cold or something right now. I felt run-down and sore when I was writing the previous post. I took one of those blue nighttime cold caplets and read for a few hours. I then set my alarm and slept for 7 or 8 hours. I felt better when I woke up but didn't have any energy. I rested all day and finally went for some fish and chips. I didn't feel too bad.

Last night I was starting to feel worn again so I lay down and read. I couldn't sleep. I decided to have another blue pill and a snack. The medicine may be premature but I hate being sick. I have too many things to do without worrying about being sick. Thinking about illness and about other things was making me feel blue - in the I-am-depressed sense

Writing always helps a bit when I am feeling down. I was starting this post and thought about the different meanings of blue. Then I thought of the Blue Sky. In that sense it is a 'nice' sense of blue. It is cheery and safe in moderate amounts. It comes when darkness has passed but always leaves. It is like living with depression or another illness.

I sometimes get nervous when I get sick. It's not bad when it is just a cold or something mild. When I get the stomach heaving cramps or nausea I sweat as much from fear as from fever. Those were the symptoms I felt just before I went into a coma-like state while being rushed to the hospital. I was suffering from pneumonia in both lungs.

Being sick is one time I hate being independent. There is no one around to take care of me and catch me if I fall. Being blue due to depression seems easy compared to being physically ill. The truth is that fevers break or people die. Depression can last a lifetime and influence your job, your education, and your relationships.

There is one thing depression has over physical illness: it doesn't scare me. It hurts, and can be frustrating, but I can always push it away. I can do this myself. When I had pneumonia I would have died without help. I lost my independence in order to live.

I have often wondered why blue is one of my favourite colours.