H1N1 and Me

H1N1 and Me

After about ten days, I think I’ve finally come out the other side. Two weeks ago or so, I began having fourth graders coming to me with dour faces, saying, “I don’t feel good.” One look told me that the children were sick, and I sent them along to the school nurse. I’m guessing that I sent perhaps 8-10 kids home over the span of the week from my classes. All had a high fever and spraying cough. Fourth graders don’t always cover their cough very effectively, and I found myself the victim of cough spray on several occasions. I began almost intravenously feeding my hands and body with hand sanitizer, but I knew I was doomed.

Interestingly, I read recently from a UVA medical study that hand sanitizers are effective against germs, but not against the common rhinovirus. In fact, viruses rather love the alcohol in the sanitizers.

According to the Center for Disease Control, “the symptoms of 2009 H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea.”

My experience with H1N1 went something like this.

Two Fridays ago, I felt myself coughing a bit while I was watching the Northside vs. Allegheny football game. The next morning, I was coughing more than normal. I figured, however, that I was simply experiencing seasonal allergies. So I went to the Virginia Tech vs. Boston College football game. I coughed my way through. Later that evening, at a friend’s pre-wedding event, I began to cough more intensely and frequently.

The next morning, I crashed. My cough instantly deepened, and I felt my head explode. My temperature bolted to 102 degrees, and I found myself staggering through the house.

Being the dedicated, foolish teacher, I pasted myself in front of a computer for about four hours Sunday afternoon and began writing lesson plans. By this time, I had figured out that I had caught it, and I was doomed. Interestingly, my cough became more sporadic. When I coughed, I coughed hard. But I didn’t cough very often. In fact my nose wasn’t even stuffy.

Early the next morning I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 and drove to school to set my room up for the day. That accomplished, I drove home and collapsed for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. My fever hovered around 102 and lowered with Advil. Monday afternoon well after school was over, I went back to school and spent about 2.5 hours making lesson plans for Tuesday. I came home and crashed for the night. Tuesday was a carbon copy of Monday except I was able to sleep in since I had already done the plans. Later in the day, again, I went in after school to make plans for Wednesday, another 2.5 hours.

By Wednesday, I detected some lessening of my fever and my headache had gone away. The cough was a bit more intense, however. The fever left me mostly for good by midday. I decided that I would be able to return to school for Thursday. In retrospect, I should have stayed home both Thursday and Friday. Never have I been so spent at school. I found myself sitting and dragging myself from task to task with absolutely no energy. I was miserable. On Friday afternoon, my fever came back, and I was into regression.

Luckily the weekend came, and I was able to sleep and do nothing for an entire day. No planning. No thinking. Nothing. I did finally go to the doctor on Saturday morning, and he assured me that I had no signs of a secondary infection although he told me it would take a while for me to get rid of the cough. I began to feel stronger and better. Sunday was an even better day. While the cough continued, I began to feel like my old self.

Now that I’m on the backside of this health event and now that I have the official symptom list for H1N1, I realize that I got off relatively easily. I never developed a sore throat, runny nose, or upset stomach. For that, I’m thankful.

While I battled H1N1, I knew of several other teachers who were also experiencing it. One friend was dealing with her hospitalized child. Thankfully for her, the child is on her way to recovery.

So when people ask me whether they should get the vaccine, I tell them without hesitation that while I am not a doctor, I believe strongly in the vaccination. I’m thankful that the county is providing it free of charge to children and staff. Even though I’ve most likely had a personal relationship with H1N1, I plan to get the shot.

~Thom Ryder