Just for the record...07:05 Aug 10 2006
Times Read: 1,024
West Nile Virus really sucks great big hairy floppy donky dangly-bits.
I'm not 100% sure that's what I've got, there are a few other possibilities, but given the season, my limited amount of contact with other people, and how much I tend to be exposed to mosquitos, it's the most logical diagnosis.
The symptoms fit with West Nile Fever, not the rare cases resulting in encephalitis and menengitis. Only about 5% of people infected with the virus show any symptoms at all, and less then 1% develop severe West Nile Disease.
Monday afternoon I started feeling a little under the weather, nothing major. By the time I went to bed, I was having muscle cramps in my lower back, right around my kidneys, aching in my chest when I breathed in too deeply, and I felt about half stoned. So I went to bed early, not thinking much of it. Around 5am I woke up shivering. Our thermostat is set to 74 degrees. At my old place, we kept it at a constant 60 degrees, which is where I was comfortable. So I added a heavy flannel comforter to the blanket I was already sleeping under.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, the muscle aches and cramps were worse, I had a sore throat to go along with it, and I finally got a thermometer stuck under my tongue. 103 degrees, and I wasn't chilling as bad as I was during the night, so I'm guessing it had been higher.
After a few hours, several doses of Tylenol, a chemical ice pack, and a shitload of Gatorade and Orange juice later, my fever was down to a tolerable level. Not much had changed.
By Tuesday evening, I still had a low-grade fever, and a sore throat.
Today, the fever may have been present, but not that I noticed. The sore throat hasn't eased up much though. Damn lymph nodes.
Tomorrow, feeling better or not, I'm getting some shit done. I'm sick of laying around here being sick.
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