I’ve been sick-ish the past couple of days. Sick-ish in the sense that I haven’t been running a fever, but I’ve had the congested head, cough, sore throat, and general aches/pains of being sick. I freely admit that I’m a wuss when it comes to being sick. I don’t like anything that makes me feel bad. So, I complain and whine. I talk about my symptoms like I’m the only person on the planet to ever have a cold and that no one can ever feel my pain. Well, at least that’s what I say in my head. Mostly I know that sort of behavior is really obnoxious, so I keep it on the inside. Still, I think it and thats almost as good as saying it out loud except that it annoys Dr. Man much less.
Knowing all this, I also have a hard time deciding to stay home. There’s all this stuff to be done in the lab and it’s actually kind of fun stuff. It’s new and different. It may lead to at least preliminary evidence on my working hypothesis. Those sort of experiments are the ones that made me decide to become a scientist. That means that I want to go into the lab. And yet… I feel so horrible that all I want to do is crawl into bed, pull the covers up, and sleep. Then again, when I have little sleep I feel the same way. So, I now have the fever rule. If I’m sick enough to run a fever, then I’m sick enough to stay home. No fever, then I head into work (and take enough medicine to start a meth lab in my belly).
Hence, I’ve been in the lab this week. I’ve gone through the majority of a box of kleenex, an entire box of sudafed, and half a bottle of ibuprofen. However, I’ve troubleshot my protein purification, found a way to get more protein, contacted a collaborator, and made minor progress on Damned Yeast Project. Also, I’ve provided entertainment for the lab. They’ve set up a pool based on the number of times I wash my hands in one day. I think the loser has to load pipet tips.
I have the fever rule too–I go to work unless I have a fever. You, of course, have to remember to take your temperature when the nyquil is out of the system (if this is the drug of choice–it is certainly my drug du jour), otherwise any fever that would allow you to stay home will be suppressed by the tylenol present.
It’s been a terrible time for colds this year. I can’t manage to kick mine for the life of me. Good luck.
Pretty much everyone I know is sub-clinically sick right now. I am just exhausted, with a sniffly nose and a headache, and a bad case of brain fog, and apparently I am not alone.
I also have a really hard time taking time off – only one half-day so far in 2008. My boss is away today and I think I have an especially hard time taking a day off on a Friday when my boss is away – OMG what will people think of me??!! So here I am in my brain fog, trying to get a very tedious but important task done… it is hell. Thank goodness for iPods.
Hope you feel better soon.
If you get a bad cough, throw the temperature rule out the window! My sister had some kind of low-level cold, then the cough wouldn’t go away, then it got worse – then walking pnuemonia! Sometimes rest would be the best thing, and she just pushed it too hard! (Doesn’t happen often, though.)
Hope everyone will be feeling better soon!
I have a feeling you’re never as obnoxious as you feear you are, Amanda. 🙂 Anyway, I hope you feel better soon. Lots of bloggers seem to be sick right now.
The fever rule is okay, but I think people should stay home more often than they do. I stay home when I know I wouldn’t be efficient if I went in. I figure it’s better to get better faster than to drag it out, working at a minimal level while feeling like crap and potentially spreading my sick. But maybe I’m rationalizing. I am an advocate for less work, after all.
Sorry to hear it. Feel better.
Hope you can stay home this weekend and get better!
I am very sorry to be able to say that I feel your pain. I’m on at least my 8th box of kleenex, fourth bottle of nyquil, and I’ve lost count of the numbers of pills I’ve gone through during the day. I went back to the doctor last week (at the insistence of my benchmate) to learn that while the antibiotics succeeded in clearing up my lungs, I’ve got a wicked case of allergies. So I’m now back on steroids. And still coughing, blowing my nose, and risking the DEA arresting me for decongestant abuse. Beh.
I, too, follow the fever rule, though I’ve added a puking addendum. (Nobody wants to see that.) I’m probably not a good one to emulate, though, seeing as how strict adherence to the fever rule led to a week in bed with pneumonia (and, you know, getting fired and all). Take it easy, as I don’t recommend that route for a few measly days off. Hope you’re starting to feel better!
Yuck….hope you feel better soon.
But in the meantime, mmmmmm…..day-quil. 🙂
Hope you are getting better!
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I’m feeling better. 🙂