Quarantined!!

We don't always get a flu shot. But this year we got it more to protect others rather than ourselves. We knew we were going to be spending a lot of time with our aging parents, and we certainly wouldn't want to get the flu and expose them to it. So we got the shot, but it didn't protect from the strain of flu that pounced on us. We read later that this year's flu shot is only 10% effective, and we got a good dose of the other 90%. As soon as she felt the symptoms coming on, Denisa quarantined herself upstairs away from Mark's parents. Mark was still feeling fine, so he was cooking and cleaning downstairs, then running food upstairs to Denisa. She had to take a picture, because that's some great room service!

Denisa kept shoo-ing Mark out of her sick room, hoping that he wouldn't catch this flu bug too. But within 24 hours, he started the same symptoms. The good news is that Denisa had some company in this quarantine. The bad news is that we have certainly messed up a lot of plans and inconvenienced a lot of people.

We were supposed to be making our fifth trip (in as many weeks) to Oklahoma City that weekend. We were supposed to pick up our son, Blake, to ride with us to Kansas City to spend several days with our other son and his wife. They had all kinds of fun meals and activities planned for us, and we were all so looking forward to it! Then this flu bug hit, and our plans soon evaporated as our fevers soared. To make matters worse, Blake had booked a flight onward from Kansas City to another destination. So we totally screwed up his travel plans! That made us feel even worse!

Fast forward three days, and we were still hanging out upstairs. It was a strange feeling to be trapped inside, looking at another sunset through an upstairs window. 

We decided this was one of the worst flu bugs we've ever had--headaches, coughing, fever, and all-over aches--even our hair hurt. Mark's temperature soared up to 104 degrees on more than one occasion. His theory is to sleep until he gets well, but it didn't work too well on this flu. On the other hand, Denisa's theory is to stay busy and ignore the fact that she's sick. She put together two intricate puzzles during this quarantine. She must have been craving sweets, because this puzzle was themed in cupcakes, while the other was candy.

She also read a book, did some sewing, and played the piano every day. Mark--not so much. He is much better at staying still and being sick. But the days were certainly long! After three full days upstairs, Denisa finally made her escape when her temperature returned to normal. Then it was her turn to carry meals upstairs to Mark, who remained in quarantine for two more days.

There's never a good time to get sick, but this flu bug seemed to have especially bad timing. But the worst part is worrying this quarantined bug will sneak downstairs and infect an 89- and 91-year-old that we love.