Sick of being sick

For about the third time in the last 6 months, I am sick with the Flu.

My story of woe so far:

Saturday morning- I started the day early - 6.30am to be precise, and with my health in tact. By 9am I was working up a sweat in the garden, digging holes aimlessly (an activity that seems to make me feel a little more manly). Despite starting to feel a little run down by mid afernoon, Aff and I decided to head off to the coast for a night of camping. Much like the drive from Canberra to Batemans Bay, this was when things started to go down hill. By Saturday night, my head was all over the shop with mild fever symptoms setting in, and the obligatory cough that undoubtedly startled a few unsuspecting possums (not to mention campers). After a sleepless night, I was unable to drive home on the Sunday, instead relinquishing the responsibility to Aff while sat quietly and motionless in the passengers seat. I was quite keen to get home and lie on the couch.

Monday morning- after initially feeling ok, I soon started feeling worse as I trudged myseld to uni for the final performance of my teams' High school outreach show. Being team leader, and the only person with a car, it was pretty important that I made it, so staying home was not really an option. Thankfully, I survived the performance, although this did not come without consequences. I spent the rest of the day lying in a daze on the couch at home, watching some crappy info-mercial about zit cream (and perhaps most alarmingly, finding it interesting).

And now Tuesday- I am home again, although things have improved considerably. While I am still coughing and sneezing with impressive frequency, and volume, I am pleased to say that my temperature has come down, and I am at least able to do work at home. Being less than two weeks until Christmas, I am pretty anxious to get a fair bit of work done, which I must admit, has been largely ignored these last few weeks (such is the way of the PhD student).

It is a little alarming when I consider how many times I have been sick this year, although perhaps not entirely a mystery. Much like bushfires are often described as nature's way of restoring balance to an ecosystem, perhaps the flu is nature's way of doing the same for me. It does make sense, because I do have a history of getting quite ill when times are tough. The most notable case in point being in 1998, while doing my honours year at Melb Uni, when after 3 months of getting no more than about 3 or 4 hours sleep a night, I was forced to withdraw for 6 months after being diagnosed with glandular fever. Not much fun, I can tell you, although the Panadeine Forte tablets weren't so bad.

So yes, perhaps it's time I start taking things a little easier. For some known and some unknown reasons, this is a little easier said than done for me, but clearly necessary.