Health: Metapneumovirus KO’d Me for a Week

Last Friday I was picking up renewed prescription medications from the hospital pharmacy.  There were about twenty people or more in a small waiting room with four  clerk windows on two sides of the room. The room was stuffy, congested with no airflow and no open windows. People were coughing, sniffling, moaning, something out of a post-apocalyptic novel. As usual, they had mismanaged my medication so I had to wait for an additional refill.

After I got home, I wasn’t feeling all that well but chalked it up to the stress of having to deal with the pharmacy. By Saturday, I was sneezing, congested with sinus pressure. Sunday found my lungs full of fluid, wheezing with severe coughing.  So Monday I went to the drs who ordered xrays, lab work and prescribed an antibiotic, cough medication and an inhaler. I was down for the count.

After an additional few days of misery (not being able to blog or write, just sit up, coughing and sneezing) and taking the antibiotic, I was finally starting to feel human again.  My lungs still aren’t 100% but I can breathe and finally sleep in a prone position again.

These days it does pay to be hyper-vigilant about your health.  Do not touch door knobs with your bare hands.  If you can, slide or push with your shoulder or elbow.  Do not touch sink handles in bathrooms after you wash your hands, instead, use the paper towel to turn on and off the handle. Stay away from coughing, sneezing people and if you must shake hands, immediately after use some hand sanitizer or antibacterial gel afterwards. And as always, do not touch your face, nose, mouth–these are the gateways for viruses!