TGFI

Thank Goodness For Immunity

The list of negative aspects of my body is truly staggering.  Short, pudgy, potentially balding, definitely graying, slow, poor reflexes, slow metabolism etc etc.  I could go on, but you get the picture.  Evolutionarily I’m not much of a contender to be the fittest in any survival contest.  Except perhaps a trivia contest, but these rarely determine who survives to the next round.  The one thing this tainted viscera has going for it is one heck of an immune system.  I rarely get sick and am able to recover from any ailment yet thrown at me in record time.  This last week once again demonstrated the amazing efficacy of my antibodies and lymph nodes.

On Tuesday my roommate John got sick.  We assume it was influenza of some form and he was immediately down and out.  He spent the next few days confined to his bed, with the occasional adventure out to use his computer, 2 feet away.  Sick roommates are always quite a health hazard, and little can be done to avoid the impending disease state.  As I said, I usually avoid the illness altogether.  My freshman year I had a roommate who was sick for a week and half, in our cramped dorm room, and I avoided the whole ordeal.  Other than having to run errands for him and sing lullabies and all that unfortunate business.  But sadly I didn’t make it through this outbreak unscathed.

My last possible contact with John was Wednesday at 7:30 AM.  I left for racquetball and miraculously won 2 games, which I believe to be a first.  I didn’t return to our germ/virus/fungus filled home until 10 PM that night.  I had a slight headache, but considering the fact that I work around a dozen harmful and odiferous chemicals, this isn’t that unusual.  I sat down on my couch and turned on the Jim Gaffigan special I had just purchased (which is amazing by the way) and within about 15 minutes I went from slight headache to throbbing pain and uncontrollable shivering.  Hurray for fevers!  With no other options available to me I popped 2 Tylenol PMs (mixed with Mountain Dew to rush the effects) and jumped in the shower.  When all the hot water was gone I put on a couple layers of clothing (I’m now used to sleeping in sweaters after living in China) and went to sleep.  I awoke nearly 12 hours later, no longer febrile but still plenty sick.  I roughed it through a relatively busy day, finally getting some Aleve at the end of the day.  I was up until about 2 researching but by that point I was 90% cured.  I’ve been pill popping a bit since, but am relatively symptom free.

Wow, that may have been the most boring post ever.  Point being I rushed through the flu in 24 hours while running all around Provo where it has knocked out some for nearly a week.  Immune system: I salute you.

Song of the day: “My Name is Love” Rob Dickinson
Jim Gaffigan quote of the day: “I got a robe for Christmas.  I remember thinking “Hope I get the flu so I can use this robe.””