Sick Days

Throughout nursing school and even my first few years of working as a nurse in a hospital (in a unit that deals with infectious diseases!!) I never really got sick. I somehow reasoned that because I had exposed my immune system to so much nastiness, I had become invincible.

Then came primary care.

Viruses galore.

Sick little ones (and big ones) coughing in my face.* 

No matter how many times I washed my hands.

August this year was the worst. I was a hot mess. Literally. I had a fever and there was gunk coming out of my right eye. I also had an ear infection that resulted in temporary hearing loss and gave me the grace-like balance of a baby learning to walk (they're like tiny drunk adults). 

I became sick again recently. This time, however, I recovered a lot faster. Thank you, flu shot?? I'm tempted to start donning a yellow hazmat suit the next time someone comes in with a cough...

 

*I'm guilty of this too. I coughed in the face of a medical assistant this year when he was swabbing me for strep throat. I felt so bad and apologized profusely partly because I didn't want to get him sick, but more so because of my dragon morning breath.