Fighting a constant flu

I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this winter has already proven to be a long, cold, and very sick season.

I suppose having the flu or a bad cold always feels like the worst one ever when you’re right in the middle of a coughing fit or your child is running a constant fever of 39 degrees Celsius, but this year feels like it’s been nonstop in our house for the past couple of months.

Having a five-year-old in his first year of school should have been more than enough reason to pack up my two boys and husband and make us all get this year’s flu shot, but for some reason, the thought and follow-through of actually getting immunized fell to the bottom of a long to-do list.

Since October, at least one person in our house has had a cough at any given time. My oldest has gone through a couple bouts of fevers and coughs and sore muscles. And my husband has succumbed to a few bouts of the dreaded man-cold/flu.

I usually tell myself that I’m simply too busy to get sick, and usually that mentality seems to work. But even I have fallen ill as of late. I first felt a little uneasy around Christmas, but after a couple days, the cloud lifted and all was well again.

But for over a week now, I’ve been coughing, and simply feeling worn out. Some days are better than others and I’ve yet to take an entire sick-day off work. My son, on the other hand, has missed a few days of school, and my husband has tried to declare a couple of sick days over the past week, as he drinks the cough medicine straight from the bottle, pops a couple Advil and heads back to bed.

As much as I hate being sick, I think the thought of falling behind on work is much more terrifying than getting the flu. Thankfully, I don’t have a very physical job. I will give my husband some credit because lifting heavy things and climbing ladders in -20 while sick is a bit different than taking photos and writing stories in a warm office with a cup of tea.

The one person I really look up to during this cold and flu season (well, technically I look down to him) is my two-year-old son. Even with a fever, and a runny nose, the kid just keeps going. He simply wipes his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, sips on a cup of apple juice, and keeps playing as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Sadly, I know these days will soon come to an end, and I will one day find myself in a house of three men who can’t handle a cold or a flu. And I may have to buy some stocks in a cough medicine company if we get any more cold or flu seasons like this one.