Just when you think you’re gonna have a brief brush with an upper respiratory infection, it can turn on you. Tonight I do what my mother did when I was a child–get out the Vicks vapor rub and slather it on my chest, cover it with a soft cotton cloth and rub some under my nose.

My homemade chicken noodle soup was tasteless–but full of nutrition. My inability to hear and see except through a fog reminded me of an old Dick Van Dyke Show episode where he recounts to his son how he and his mom almost didn’t get married because his (Rob Petrie, Dick van Dykes character) ears were so plugged by a cold he couldn’t hear a thing the preacher said–spouting “I do” at inappropriate times, then turning to his bride-to-be saying “I don’t?” Funny stuff, though not so much when you are so incapacitated that you can’t sleep without hacking and you have to sit up in bed to have any chance of breathing.

I’ve had two weeks off from my care taking duties and am supposed to return to work tomorrow. Argh! Needless to say I do not want to be the early demise of my client, so I left a message on the substitute phone. WOuldn’t you know I’m scheduled for two doctor’s appointment Tuesday, neither of which will want to see me in this state (dermatologist and allergist to take a peak flow meter of my lung capacity) Now that would be a joke right now.

Self care – not just for betrayal trauma recovery. Also for sickness. Please don’t go to work if you are sick. No one wants you’re germs. You don’t want mine, let me tell you. Self care includes knowing when to say ‘No”.

I say ‘No” to work. I want to respect other’s health boundaries to not catch something from me. Even though I am scheduled and committed. The world will not fly off its axis without me. A substitute will do just fine.

Take care of yourself out there this cold and flu season.