Under The Weather

Here we go again….

So I've been sick now for going on 5 days.  There's some nasty viral thing going around Flagstaff right now that seems to be incapacitating people for multiple days at a time.  Simon had it last week, now it's my turn.  It sucks.  I hate being sick (who doesn't?).  I've been pretty much loafing on the couch for the past few days, feeling like an absolutely nonproductive slug.  While I am a self-professed lazy person, I do enjoy being productive, of accomplishing something, no matter how minute.  I haven't been to the gym in days, although I have been trying to take random short walks, just to get some fresh air and try to expand my aching lungs a bit.  It's hard to tell if I'm afflicted by the Flagstaff virus, or if this is a manifestation of my seasonal allergies…or it could be a little of both.  The hacking cough and achey chest feels like a cold, the congestion, sneezing, and runny nose feels like allergies.  I once asked a friend of mine who was becoming a nurse practitioner, how one tells the difference between a cold and allergies.  She said that with allergies, a person has boggy mucus membranes (referring to the soft tissues inside the nose).  I'm not quite sure what "boggy" means, and I have neither the equipment nor the know-how to figure out if I have boggy membranes or not.  So I'm erring on the side of caution and pretty much avoiding most forms of human contact until I feel ready to re-engage as a healthy member of society.

I hate calling out to work knowing that I'm shorting my coworkers.  And truly, I like my job.  This is actually one of the first places I've worked where I don't feel like I need a "mental health day," as we call them, when we've just had enough and need to step away before saying or doing something rash.  I enjoy going to my job I enjoy my coworkers, and I enjoy taking care of most of the patients (there are those few who definitely drive nurses to the aforementioned mental health days).  But, as a healthcare professional, it is not only my job to take care of the sick, but also to prevent them from catching any additional illnesses while they are in my care.  And whether I'm contagious or not, hacking relentlessly and constantly blowing my nose is not only unsanitary, but it doesn't bring much confidence to my patients or my coworkers.  It is also my responsibility to be on top of my game, to be thinking with a clear head, and to be as physically healthy as possible so that my own shortcomings don't cause me to make errors.  Going to work sick is not only irresponsible, but it can be dangerous for those vulnerable populations and inconvenient for my coworkers, as they'll inevitably be the ones picking up my slack.  Years ago I wasn't feeling well and had gone to work anyway.  I was spending a lot of time in the bathroom.  During one of my bathroom trips, one of my patients, who was very ill, vomited and began choking on it.  Had someone not been walking by and heard the commotion, things could have ended very badly for him.  And worse yet, they couldn't find me for assistance.  It was scary and something I'll never forget, and I learned my lesson about going to work when not feeling well.  My patients deserve my full attention…their lives practically depend on it.  And truth be told, I probably spend just as much time with my coworkers as I do my patients, and getting my coworkers sick just takes even more caregivers out of the equation, so it's best to stay home.

Being sick is really rather boring.  When I'm not hacking and feeling dreadfully awful, I'm just sitting here, too sick to do much, but well enough that I'm getting stir crazy.  So I alphabetized my collection of Stephen King books.  I found two duplicates, 'Salem's Lot and The Dead Zone, so if anyone out there is looking to add either of these to their collection, let me know.  I believe they are both 1st editions, although I've decreased the value of 'Salem's Lot by writing my name in it.  Stupid…although, they're really not going for much these days anyway, but there are some people out there who collect 1st edition printings.  I've been drinking lots of water, which results in lots of trips to the bathroom.  Not that that's in the same vein as 'something to do,' but it's keeping me moving around.  I've done some laundry, cleaned up and wiped down the kitchen a few times, reorganized the fridge and threw out a few things that were rotting in the veggie drawer (okra? I don't even know where to begin with preparing that…to the compost pile it goes).  I've taken Cooper for a few walks, attempted to get a photo of the giant spider living in our tomato plant (he's camera shy, apparently), taken a few naps, and that's about it.  Truth be told, I'd almost rather be at work where I'm distracted and not constantly reminded that I'm not well enough to do anything worth doing.   

I've read 4 books since Sunday, when all this started going down.  I finished off The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.  I was told by my good friend's son that I should read the book before I see the movie.  It was a really good book.  It's young-adult fiction, which seems to be all the rage these days for young adults and adults alike.  Green does an excellent job of capturing the heart and soul of teenagers, albeit in a somewhat Dawson's Creek fashion.  I have to point out that at 15 years old, I was nowhere near as mature as the characters in his book, but there were probably 15 year-olds at my school who were at that maturity level…I was probably too busy trying to rationalize putting my Barbies away permanently to notice.  I also read his book Paper Towns, which was also pretty good.  Again, the maturity level was above what I would consider normal for a teenager, but I think that's what makes it relatable to someone my age, while still being relatable to a young adult.  It was good.  I would have to say I enjoyed Stars a little better, and am looking forward to reading more books by this author.  I also read a newish book from one of my favorite authors, Christopher Buckley.  This one was called They Eat Puppies, Don't They?  Buckley is an entertaining political satire writer; almost all of his books take place around Washington DC, and usually have something or everything to do with lobbyists, political corruption, and the like.  He is the author who wrote Thank You For Smoking, which I consider one of his better books.  All of them are good.  This one was a little hard to follow as it had a lot of characters and it took place in both Washington DC and China.  It was about a couple people (a lobbyist and an Ann Coulter talking-head type) trying to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment in America at the behest of a giant arms dealer whose agenda involved getting some new weapons approved through Congress.  All sorts of shenanigans were going on.  Last night I finished Stories I Only Tell My Friends, an autobiography by Rob Lowe.  I really liked it.  It's written really well, and I've always really enjoyed autobiographies.  It's interesting to hear him tell stories of rubbing elbows with famous people before they were famous, of playing in the neighborhood with the Sheen and Penn boys, and of attending the same high school as Robert Downey Jr.  I find the cutthroat world of Hollywood interesting, to a point.  Lowe managed to keep it down to earth by exposing his faults and bad decisions, and also those decisions made by others that impacted both his personal and professional life.  I've always really liked Rob Lowe as an actor, and come on…those eyes!!  My goodness, arguably the most beautiful eyes on TV.  But I digress…

Mmmm…Mac and Cheese!!  

I've been trying to eat healthy to give my body the best tools to fight this crap off, but trying is the operative word here.  Macaroni and cheese, while tasty, is anything but nutritious.  I know this, but when you feel like crap and you've been laying on the couch for 3 days, minimal effort feels like maximal effort.  It's all I could do to boil some water for the noodles.  Hahaha!  And my throat hurts, so anything soft was a bonus.  I wanted nothing to do with any of that roughage that Simon was eating, although he always offered to share.  I did make a pot of chicken soup using the chicken broth I made recently, and it was so tasty.  I don't think I'll ever buy boxed chicken broth again.  I've been on a kick of making one roasted chicken a week…Simon and I love chicken, and one chicken will last us almost a week by adding it to soup, quesadillas, fried rice, and chicken salad.  We don't cook much these days, so anything that we can cook once and eat multiple times is a bonus.  So yeah, after making all these chickens, I had been saving the bones and skin and started making my own broth from them.  So flavorful.  And cheap!  Seeing as I bought the chicken anyway, the broth is basically free.  Just today I chopped up some of a roasted chicken and made a copy-cat version of Chef Jean's chicken salad.  Chef Jean is a robust Cajun man from Phoenix who comes up from Phoenix to the Flagstaff farmer's market every Sunday.  He's a fantastic cook, and his stand always has a line.  If not for the food, then for the entertainment.  I could sit and listen to him talk all day in his French-Cajun accent.  I've had multiple things from his stand, but the chicken salad is arguably the best.

Chef Jean's Copy-Cat Chicken Salad
1 roasted chicken (you won't use the whole thing, but a mix of white/dark meat is best…you can even go buy one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store for a short cut!)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
mayonaise
garlic powder
salt
pepper
craisins
chopped almonds or cashews (Jean uses cashews, I prefer almonds)
Balsamic vinegar

So basically, you just shred the chicken, add everything else and stir.  I eye-balled everything, so my measurements are far from exact.  I probably used about 3 cups of shredded chicken, then just added the onions and celery until I had a good chicken-to-veggie ratio (more chicken than veggie).  The rest of the ingredients I just added to my tastes.  I didn't add much salt at all, as the roasted chicken and the mayo have plenty of their own salt.  I'm liberal with pepper, added a sprinkle of garlic powder (you can do fresh if you want, I was just being lazy), and splash in the balsamic to your liking.  Craisins are definitely optional, I think raisins would be good too...I like the little bit of sweet that they bring to it.    Fresh chopped apples would be good in this as well, especially now that it's Honeycrisp season!

I'll also share my sore throat tea recipe, for those who might become afflicted with this same illness at some point during the coming months…winter is just around the corner, after all!  I found the lemon in it to be a little harsh, as citrus usually is on a sore throat, but Simon really liked it.  I'll give you the recipe as is, and explain the changes I'll make for next time in the comments.

Sore Throat Tea
1 cup honey
2 lemons, sliced
2 fingers of ginger, peeled and sliced into coins (I will do more ginger next time)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional…I used it because I love cinnamon)

In a 2-cup jar or container, toss in the lemon slices, ginger slices, and cinnamon.  Pour the honey over the top, mix it around to incorporate the cinnamon, put a lid on it and toss it in the fridge (it'll keep in the fridge for several months).  When you're ready to have some, place a heaping spoonful of the mixture into a mug, pour boiling water into the mug and stir.  Next time I do this, I think I'll just take the juice of the two lemons instead of the slices.  I could taste the lemon rind, and I didn't like that…too bitter.  I might even omit the lemon all together, just because I found it to be irritating to my sore throat.  I think this mixture would even be good to add to some basic green tea if you're looking to get in some extra nutrients and whatnot.

So those are my "sick day" recipes and remedies.  Outside of the mac and cheese, of course…I think everyone knows how to make that (open box, boil noodles, drain noodles, add cheese packet, milk, and butter, stir, shamelessly eat all of it without sharing…you get the idea).

And now it's time for another nap.  Hoping to be up to snuff by Sunday, which is when I work next.  This whole illness bit has also put a dent in the training for my upcoming foot races in Minnesota, just over a week away.  Ah well, there's no shame in walking.  I'll be running it with some friends I haven't seen in a while, so walking will provide us a better opportunity to chat…hahaha!

Be well!  Cover your mouth!  Wash your hands!