I come from a large family on my Mom’s side, she is the oldest of five and each of her siblings has had between 2 and 7 children of their own plus a few grandkids scattered here and there. We haven’t all gotten together since May of 2002, and partially in May of 2007, then last week Tuesday my Mom’s siblings all got together, sans issue. Thus, various aunts were in town over Thanksgiving weekend.
On Saturday, my Mom’s youngest sister, Dana, who lives in Oregon, and I went to lunch at Udupi Palace for a lovely lunch and then we took Scruffy McDoget to Dog Beach for a good long walk. When we got back to my house and my aunt’s car, she left pretty quickly, which I thought at the time had to do with the fact we had hung out for about 4 hours at this point and the fact that she is a strong introvert.
On Sunday, I ate the leftovers from our lunch over the course of the day, including my Aunt’s leftovers. Hey, its Udupi Palace, spinach dosa is always good, even the next day.
On Monday, I got a text from my Aunt Dana that she had been officially diagnosed with H1N1 and if I got sick I should immediately go to the doctor.
Yes, it happened that fast. From what I found out today from my Aunt Anne, Dana was fine at lunch and after our walk she started to feel really bad, by the time she drove back to Anne’s house about 30 miles south of my place she was really sick. By Sunday, super sick, sick enough to go to the doctor.
I texted her back to let her know that if she needed any help to let me know. The first day, I was bemused. The Pig, The Pig, it is coming.
By Tuesday, while I felt fine, I did some research and found that the infectious period for H1N1 was heatedly debated and could be anytime from when the person was first infected until the last cough and the incubation period if exposed to a person with H1N1 could be anywhere from one to seven days.
How about if you shared a dosa, uttapam, and sambar with someone with H1N1 in the infectious period?
I then decided that getting The Pig would be a forced Staycation with a real good excuse for missing work. I twitter this. Yes, yes, I know, Hanen Black Humor Alert. Funny, ha ha.
All week, I have felt normal. Well, as normal as I ever feel. Ok, so I lie… Really, I have had a bit of a sore throat and swollen glands, I did cough up a big cough up yesterday on to my steering wheel while driving. Surprise!
BUT IT ISNT THE PIG, I swear. Today I have felt a little off, but not much. Really, I promise. I just stayed in all day and had the heater on. I never run my heater. It is SoCal, no need for a heater on when it is 72F, right?
This evening, my aunt Anne called to give me the report on how Aunt Dana was faring, to ask how I was feeling, and to give me instructions on how to get into my Grandma’s storage tomorrow so I can get & put up her Christmas decorations.
Aunt Anne: “How are you feeling?”
Me: “Fine.”
Anne: “You don’t sound good, your voice is weak and you have been coughing as we have been talking.”
Me: “…..uh….((cough))”
Anne: “Are you feeling sick? If so, go to the doctor…”
Conversation about immediate doctor visit and Tamilflu ensues, all the while I remain in DENIAL. I am fine. I swear.
No Pig here. The only Pig I can see is the one in the freezer. Maybe I should turn down the heater before it melts the apartment.