I've been sick with the flu for over a week. I caught it while I was in Texas last week and started to feel bad the Thursday of our trip. I had trouble breathing and was coughing a little, so I thought it might be allergies. I took a Claritin, but that didn't do anything for me. I woke up Friday and felt significantly worse. I started to get a high fever of almost 103 and I felt terrible.

I was sick the rest of the trip and the flight home was awful. It was easily the worst I've ever felt on a plane. My ears started to hurt so bad on the decent into Seattle, I thought my head would explode. It was difficult to sleep much at all. We took a cab home instead of riding the light rail, since a cab would be faster and easier.

I crashed on the bed and couch for three days. My entire body was sore and it hurt when I coughed. I continued to have a high fever until Monday, but I still felt miserable and was really dizzy and light-headed. I couldn't even go to work until Wednesday. Even then, I still probably should have taken Wednesday off. I felt so tired and weak and had no energy. I was coughing up stuff and had an awful headache. Thankfully I can just sit at my desk and do most of my stuff without much physical exertion.

I probably won't feel back to normal for several more days, as I continue to build my immunity back up and get my energy back. I'm still coughing too and don't have much appetite. This is definitely the worst I've felt in at least 5 years.

But the worst part about being sick was the timing. It couldn't have come at a worse time. I was really looking forward to spending time with my sister, her husband, and my niece on Friday. We were going to go to the mall and out to eat lunch, then back to her house to see Evie's room. I'm still upset I couldn't see her again and hold my niece one more time. It also would have been nice to be able to hug my other family members that came by to visit Friday night. And, I couldn't really do much with my parents either. We did a day's worth of stuff on Thursday right before I got sick, but that was it. The rest of the trip I laid on their couch and watched movies.

I don't normally get sick like this. I hardly ever get colds any more and I haven't had the flu in at least 10 years. It's just really disappointing that it ruined the rest of our trip. Hopefully I'll start to feel a lot better by this weekend.