verge of sick

I've been sitting on the verge of sick for most of this week. I say "the verge of," because if I'm actually sick, it isn't that bad.

On Monday I noticed one of my lymph nodes was getting sore. Just one. Then I remembered that I'd woken up with a little bit of a sore throat the day before. After work, I decided to take a nap. I went to bed at five and had no trouble sleeping until seven a.m. the next day, when I had to get up for work. Fourteen hours in all.

Since then, I've been sleeping pretty normal, around-the-eight-hour-mark nights. The one sore lymph node migrated into the other. The good news is that the original isn't swollen too much anymore. The bad news is that the other has taken its place.

Other than those symptoms, I'm not noticing much amiss. My energy's fine, concentration's intact, I don't feel woozy or sluggish. The thing that irks me most is that I let this get in the way of my usual exercise regimen, such as it is. I figured my body needs the energy to fight off this whatever-it-is. Now I'm wondering how long this will last, and if I'll be able to pick up my regimen again without a problem.

J. suggested I might have the flu. I don't remember ever having the flu before this except possibly once in my sophomore year of college--but in that case, it was either the stomach flu or a minor case of food poisoning. Nothing like this. So I have nothing to compare to. If I do have the flu, the good news is that it's minor, and I'll get over it eventually (at least I'm crossing my fingers that I will), and that then I'll be immune to this strain. The bad news is that it feels like it's taking forever to run through my system, though I know it's only been a few days.

I also worry about spreading it around the office. Sure, I wash my hands as much as humanly possible, try to avoid touching my nose and mouth, never touch doors with my hands, all that nonsense. But the attitude around the office toward being sick is nothing short of bipolar. My direct boss takes pride in working even if he's really ill. As long as he can make it to the car, he comes in. My grandboss seems to be much more of the school of "if you think you can pass it around, don't." And one of the other folks on my boss's level on our team has the same theory, and has in the past urged me not to come in when I'm feeling at all ill. I found this out after I'd gotten really knocked-out sick just after I started this job (and came in anyway). Amazingly sick. I hadn't been that sick in years (and at the time, I didn't even keep a can of chicken noodle soup around the house--silly me). At the time, I blamed it on the students returning for spring semester, having brought all their ailments from all the different corners of the globe. This time, I've got no such excuse.

I have no patience for this kind of sick. When I'm really sick, I have no problem with staying in bed or on the couch, eating chicken noodle soup and drinking therapeutic hot teas. I get some reading or DVD watching done. I surf the Web. Oh, the horror. With this kind of sick, I feel like I barely have an excuse to take care of myself, because I mean, come on, it's not like I'm really sick. All I can do is stay home (which itself kind of feels like a punishment), bundle up in flannel pj's, a sweater, my trusty sheepskin slippers and then wrap myself in a down blanket and take it easy. But then I feel like I'm slacking. Have I mentioned that I feel the need to multitask constantly? A discussion for another time, perhaps.

But really, at this point, I'm split between just get sick already and get over it. Let's hope the latter wins out.