I Got the Flu for Valentine’s Day

A Quick Trip Home With Unpleasant Consequences

Boyd went back to Iowa for a quick trip (Wednesday – Monday) for business, to see Kaylee and prepare his parent’s basement suite in the event we needed to stay with them while we were having the accident repairs made to our RV.

When he got back, he mentioned that Kaylee was not feeling well Sunday, but they had chalked it up to her being out late the night before and burning the candle at both ends like most 17 year olds.

Then the Phone Call

Tuesday morning, Boyd got notice from the school that Kaylee was absent and discovered she had gone to the doctor and was diagnosed with the Type A flu that is going around. By then, Boyd had developed a cough and was very fatigued. Her doctor advised that she would need to be out of school until Thursday.

We were in Mississippi at an overnight stop on our way to Red Bay, Alabama. Boyd decided he could make the trip to Red Bay on Wednesday and would go to the walk-in clinic there if he wasn’t feeling better.

It Didn’t Get Better

Thursday morning Boyd found a MedExpress clinic close to our campground in Red Bay and made an appointment to go in at 10am. Since we were waiting for the repair people to come talk to us about the schedule for the RV repairs, I stayed at the RV and he drove himself the 3 blocks to the clinic at 9:30am. Mind you, he never goes to the doctor unless its bad, so I knew this wasn’t just a cold.

Then it Got Worse

At 10:50 I sent him a text and asked what was going on, but he didn’t respond. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from the clinic advising that he had a reaction to a steroid shot they had given him and he had passed out. They called the ambulance, but the ER doctor from the hospital next door had raced to the clinic (I LOVE these people – do you think he wears a cape when he does stuff like that?!) and checked Boyd out and confirmed he did not need to go to the hospital. They wanted me to come get him but knew I didn’t have a car. So they wanted to come get me. No, really. They offered and told me where they would pick me up.

Amazing Kindness

The receptionist from the clinic dropped everything she was doing and came to get me at the campground – she actually beat me to the office and I RAN (yes, chalk that one up to a once in a millennium occurrence) across the campground to get there. She reassured me repeatedly for the short ride that he was ok, he had just scared everyone. They let us rest in one of their exam rooms for the next hour while he recuperated.

They even squeezed me in and tested me for the flu, assuming I would have it shortly if not already based on my exposure to him. I didn’t test positive yet, but had the same symptoms Boyd had on Tuesday so they set me up with Tamiflu prophylactically. They also put Boyd on Tamiflu and strict orders of hydration and rest. I got our prescriptions filled and stocked up on groceries for the next several days assuming we would both be contagious shortly.

Wicked. Just Wicked Ickiness

I can’t remember if I ever had the flu before but this was not what I expected. We were both just exhausted and miserable. Fevers, chills, aches and coughing. We were out of commission Friday (I slept most of the day) – Sunday. Monday was the first day we felt semi-normal again. My flu seemed to be much less intense than what Boyd experienced (thank you Tamiflu and the folks at MedExpress).

There’s Still Stuff That Has to Get Done

Its just the two of us and we still have Bailey (the dog) who needs to be walked and taken outside. Bailey is a good girl and always patient with us when we are sick, but she still has needs and its not like we can just open the door for her and let her run on her own like we did when we had a house or when we are at our home base.

Since I was 2 days behind him with the flu and I had taken the Tamiflu much earlier in my illness, I was able to pick up the slack during the worst of it for him and he was recovering by the time it was bad for me. There were a couple of days when other than letting Bailey out for potty breaks, we did little else than sleep and hydrate.

Count Your Blessings

Even a week later, we are still recovering. The good news is even with the sickness, we didn’t lose our place in line for repairs and didn’t have to move the RV during the worst of the illness. The weather cooperated and we didn’t have to worry about things like it being too cold to be hooked up to the water or having to wipe the dog’s muddy paws. As we get back into the swing of things this week, we know it could have been way worse, but are soooo glad it is over.