Sick

Everyone takes time off and goes for a vacation every once in a while. So does my body's immune system.

I'm sick.

It started with chills in my chest, headaches two times a day, and then my nose started to run. So did I go to see the doctor? Not yet, sweetie. Only a sissy would do that at this early stage of sickness. Veterans like me stand the pains till the very core of life's daily maintenance breaks apart. Yes, no doctors were on my agenda till the minute the runny nose washed out my precious night cream as soon as I put it on, which prompted me to set my alarm and turned up at the NTU medical centre even before it even opened the next morning.

The way the doctors at the medical centre talk leads me to suspect that they get paid basic salaries, with additional commissions per number of patients they treat. Yup, they speak at the speed of light and seem to have a medical conclusion in their minds even before their patient enters the room, which maximizes their per-day treatment capacities. My visit this time was no excuse. Doctor CK was sitting there finishing up my file when I entered his room. We exchanged information for less than five minutes and he came to a conclusion that I had a flu, which was exactly what I thought it was. I just wanted a prescription so that my nose stopped running and no face creams of mine went wasted.

Then there were reverse chain reactions. That day, after seeing Doctor CK first thing in the morning, I took the medicines, and practically rested in bed all day. Amazingly, my conditions got worse. My throat began to sore, infection kicked in, and my body temperature went up. I'm telling you, the following 48-hour period wasn't so pretty: headache, fever, chills, sneezing, runny nose, blocked nose, dry cough, sore throat, sweating, body aches, muscle aches, loss of appetite, and the most evil symptom, fatigue.

I felt like I was a guest star in an episode of House.

Now the roller-coaster ride has slowed down as I'm getting better, better enough to collect my thoughts and type them out. No, I have not yet fully recovered. But I'm getting there.

It's about time you clocked back to work, my dear immunity.