Goodness Gracious!  In the days leading up to my eventual contracting of the H1N1 (Swine) Flu, it was hard to know what to believe.  One camp was saying, "Watch out!" and the other camp was saying, "But it's just the flu."  And, in fact, even in our own household, the six of us each exhibited different symptoms, and if it wasn't for the fact that we all had it at pretty much the same time, I would have said we all have different illnesses.

So which camp is right?  Well, in some sense, both camps are probably correct.  The Swine Flu is just the flu, but boy did it hit me with a vengeance.

Now, keep in mind that I don't get sick all that often.  I had the flu last year for a couple days; I had the flu a couple years before that; and then it had been several years prior to that since I had been stricken with anything substantial.

This time around, though, I felt as though I had been surfing and got wiped out by the "big kahuna" (whatever that is).

My fever lasted five days, mostly hovering around 101F - 102F but peaking one morning at 103.9F.  That particular morning was miserable.  I alternated between freezing and sweating profusely.  Headache, body aches, and all that yucky stuff accompanied it.  Aside from the fever, the worst parts of the flu for me were the sore throat and the cough.  In fact, I'm still coughing, and this is a week and a half after initially coming down with it.

Now, something to keep in mind is that just because you may be exhibiting flu symptoms, you might not have the swine flu.  There is a seasonal flu making the rounds too.  My doctor office is one of the offices that is working with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, and my physician sent my "samples" down to the CDC, who confirmed the Swine Flu.

The CDC is strongly urging folks who have the Swine Flu to stay in quarantine until 7 days AFTER the fever goes away.  Wow.

My fever broke this past Monday morning, so basically this meant that I had to stay home from work.  My boss wasn't thrilled about that.  I did try working from home some, but frankly, I've been feeling so weak and lethargic that it was hard to focus on anything.

I've been good ... I've gotten sleep, I haven't succumbed to the temptations of doing stuff that needs to get done around the house, and I'm trying to get past this thing.

I don't know how much of it's because I'm older than I've ever been (funny how that works) ... I suppose as one gets older, it takes longer to recover from these things.  It (recovery time) may have something to do with my Parkinson's Disease, too.  I don't know.

Yes, it's the flu and it felt like the flu, but it's never taken me this long to bounce back before.

The flu bug replicates itself in the lungs, and the danger with this (as with any flu) is for the possibility of pneumonia to settle in.  The best thing to do at this point is continue getting rest and (when I do feel energetic) try not to do too much at once.  The doctor suggested that I pace myself for another couple of weeks.

With Parkinson's, too, one of the inherent dangers is pneumonia, so in some sense I'm sort of doubly at risk I suppose.  I just need to keep an eye on it.

It's always been hard for me to sit still.  You'd think that sitting at a desk, writing software, for 25 years would train me to be happy in a sedentary lifestyle ... but I absolutely love being outside, doing yard work or sports or fishing or whatever.  I'll have to not jump back into it too quickly.

Anyway, that's it!  Wash your hands frequently, avoid (like the plague!) anyone who is sick, drink lots of healthy liquids ... and good luck!