How to Tell if I'm Really Really Sick

1. I readily drink tea - in fact ask for tea several times a day instead of complaining how vile a drink it is.

2. I dont sleep much (as opposed to sleeping a lot when i'm hale and hearty).

3. I stop eating (normal food i.e.) and prefer boiled rice and toast to anything else.

4. I lose interest in Facebook and the Blog (much to the shock of the Fellow).

5. I miss the Fellow even more than usual (no one to press my legs and back).

The last two days have gone by in a haze of high fever and painful cough attacks. I even managed my first fainting spell and have mainly survived on medicines and dry toast. Today, after 48 hours, i'm strong enough to get out of bed and not look like i'm dying (or contract swine flu as was the worry to begin with).

Also, the fact that i'm blogging is a sure shot sign that i'm feeling better - not fine - better. I mean, at least i'm now able to sit up straight long enough to type this out (and not wilt away like a creeper which cant stand up on its own).

Why I Havent Been Blogging

Travelling across north india.

Moving house.

Stressing about all the mess that had to be organised.

Figuring out maid politics and staying away from it.

Dealing with all the dust and super-sensitive immune system.

Preparing for a family function.

More travelling.

Three days of family, fun and food.

Missing the Fellow.

A whole day of walking around the bazaars of Jaipur, Hawa Mahal and City Palace.

Nodding and smiling at the titular Maharaja of Jaipur.

Gossiping late into the night with the sister and aunt.

Waking up to an aching body, heating up with fever.

Spending an entire day in pain and coughing like im dying.

Missing the Fellow even more - no one to press my aching legs.

Drinking hot water and eating hot halwa courtesy the grandmother.

Thanking the stars that the family is entirely made up of doctors.

Discussing the possibility of infection with Swine Flu.

Thanking the stars that the family is entirely made up of doctors.

Being handed a mask for the safety of everyone else around me.

The dog taking one look at a masked me and whimpering away under the table.

Cancelling travel plans.

Preparing for another 3 days (at least) in pain and away from the Fellow.

Sigh. Can you blame me for not writing?

Of Road Trips and Semi-Comatose States

(Day 86 of 112)

So, readers of this blog will know that most times I use this medium of communication for venting pent up emotions (read: complaining and whining). I can’t help it really. Most things that happen to me demand that they be complained about.

Like today. The in-laws and I went to a relative’s home about 40 kms from Shimla. Now while this doesn’t seem like a lot, in the mountains, the curving, winding roads makes it seem just so much longer and definitely more painful.

Why painful? Because I’m extremely motion sick. And mountain roads don’t help one bit. In fact so little do they help that the last time some cousins decided to go for coffee (a 20 minute drive through super twisty roads), I ended up in the hotel bathroom throwing up.

And so the only way to travel longish distances on these roads is to be medicated and in a semi-comatose state. This effectively means that I make a terrible travel companion as all I do is sleep my head off (generally on the shoulder of the person sitting to me). It doesn’t matter how long the journey is. I can sleep right through it, if only to avoid throwing up (not that it helps all the time).

But today it did help. All through the 80 odd kilometres that we travelled today, I was drugged and asleep in the backseat of the car, happily oblivious to anything around me. Only once did I get up, and that because my feet felt cold. But since the MIL gave me the FIL’s sweater to keep warm, it wasn’t long before I was stretched out in a contented semi-comatose state again, warm feet and all.

The Nose Always Knows

(Day 85 of 112)

A few days back I vented here about my hyper-allergic immune system. I also complained about how, when the immune system decides to kick into high gear and react to itself quite literally, it gets very difficult to have a nose.

However today I was proud. Proud of my nose and all that it does.

What does it do? Apart from making me want to rub it off my face in an attempt to stop the itching, my nose responds brilliantly (albeit a little too aggressively for me) to changes in the weather. And so, be it changes in the cold, heat or rain, I’m off on a sneezing bout accompanied by crazy itching.

So why was I proud of this organ which, if it had been the medieval ages, would have sent me straight to the burning stake? Because for the last three days my nose has been working overtime (and usually I would whine about it, but I have a point to make here). And while everyone around me was sure that I’m too weak and city-bred to handle the cold, I kept explaining that it was due to changes in the weather blah blah blah. Obviously no one believed me. Thought the cold had frozen my brain cells or something.

Then today brought validation for my hyper-allergic soul and my unfortunately afflicted nose. Apparently it snowed in the higher altitudes yesterday. Obviously the weather had been getting colder and changing for a few days right? In fact even the locals agreed that there was a chill in the air today and brought out the warm clothes.

And all I could do (while everyone discussed the snow and change in weather) was look exceedingly smug and pat my nose on its back.

As I pointed out to the MIL, the nose, always knows.

Disgust...

(Day 82 of 112)

…is only one of the many things I’m feeling right now. Other emotions involve irritation, frustration, annoyance, rage, anger and also the random wtf moment. And what make this gamut of emotions more interesting is that they are all directed towards my immune system – or rather the hypersensitivity of it. I’m quite literally the human thermometer, the way my nose starts itching and my eyes start watering at the slightest change in weather conditions. And this before it becomes apparent to everyone else. It wasn’t surprising then, that when the temperature dipped in Shimla, I was the first to know – and suffer.

And suffer I did…am. Since yesterday I’ve been walking around like Rudolph, with a nose that could guide Santa’s sleigh. The FIL is quite alarmed at my sneeze fests and the MIL is concerned about my feet not being warm enough. All I’m bothered about though, is getting the infernal itching in my nose to stop, so much so that squashing it under a heavy book often seems like a good idea. Damn the immune system for being hyper-allergic. Vacuum conditions and bubbles were designed for people like me. Hmph.

Add to this circus a fever and the verdict is out – such a delicate girl, give her vitamin C, take her to the Ayurveda doctor, it’s all in the head beta, do yoga, Bombay people just cant handle the cold, shut the door, wear socks to keep your feet warm, sleep with a hot water bottle, so on and so forth.

Not surprising then, is it, that disgust is only one of the many things I’m feeling right now.