back to work, you slacker

This is my first day back to work since last Tuesday. It's so good to 1) be out of the house and 2) see people. Damn, am I tired, though.

I went down in flames starting Tuesday afternoon, after developing a nasty cough on Monday. Having had the vaccine for the seasonal flu--and with the prevalence of H1N1 on our campus--my doctor felt comfortable with the H1N1 diagnosis. Wednesday sucked, but I felt a little better every day from there. Sitting on the couch, it was easy to forget what a nasty respiratory bug that flu virus is, and doing much of anything wore me out. Today, getting ready and going to work was enough to wear me out. I'm ready for my morning nap. Too bad Monday's are my most exhausting day.

The doc warned me that, more than likely, I'd have an asthma flare-up from the flu. I'd never had an actual asthma attack, just shortness of breath that's symptomatic of asthma. The doc gave me good meds and told me to use my inhaler liberally. And yesterday, the full wrath of the bug bit me when I had my first ever asthma attack. It was actually kind of scary. I figured out pretty quickly that my breathing was getting out of control, and I got my inhaler right away. Anne was there to coach me, and I got my breathing back to normal pretty quickly. Man, I had no idea how weak I would feel, though. Let's never do that again. (Mom, I'm fine, really!)

I've got a meeting in 20 minutes, and I think I'm heading over early. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to do all the stairs to the third floor conference room in the elevatorless building across campus. Sounds kind of silly, but I'm seriously being realistic. When they say this flu bug is a nasty respiratory problem, they aren't kidding.