What Vegans Eat – The Influenza Edition!

Daily blogging after a time becomes routine, a part of the day, along with everything else, like brushing teeth. Sometimes it’s fun other times challenging but something to manage with everything else on the “to do” list. That is until you get the flu. When illness appears, it takes over. Nothing else seems to matter except staying hydrated and getting rest. I never expected the fever associated with this flu to last for 8 days! Gary’s fever broke within a couple of days. But not mine. It lingered, made itself at home and took up residence in my body. I never saw it go above 102^oF and it rarely teased me by going under 100. Every day for a week, I awoke thinking it would be gone. I was wrong. I had not desired to eat, and certainly not to blog about it. I ate a little here and there as you can see below and I lost 4 pounds.

The fever has gone, the hacking is our current preoccupation. At least, I am back on the mend and back to blogging. All during this week we drank water and tea. It was a constant.

March 8 – Day 392

I had not finished my green juice from the day before so Gary blended it up into a smoothie in the morning. Smoothies go well with fever. They are cool and go down easy.

Later we had a simple plate of steamed cauliflower with carrots and onions.

I even managed to eat a small baked potato.

March 9 – Day 393

An overflowing bowl of blended frozen berries felt just right. My throat was extremely sore and this cool treat was soothing. It reminded me of when I got my tonsils out some 50 years before and I was promised buckets of ice cream afterwards. The cruel truth then was when I came out of the anesthesia I was so wiped out I was not interested in eating ice cream.

There was a small bowl remaining of Carrot Lentil Soup that I finished.

March 10 – Day 394

My throat has kept me up all night. I had excruciating hallucinations all night involving every painful swallow. I woke up and actually had a small appetite. Gary made us Fully Loaded Cold Oats Cereal to eat in bed.

I had not eaten for the rest of the day. We took a visit to a local urgent care clinic. I was tested for flu and strep and it was confirmed I had the flu. That meant all I could do was rest and hydrate and wait. That evening I had a craving for plain pasta. Gary was happy to oblige. After cooking the pasta he used the pot to make some polenta that we could have another time.

March 11 – Day 395

From the polenta made the day before came beautiful Polenta Fries. I had no appetite but I managed to have one.

Gary really wanted me to do nothing! We have a nice collection of movies and we sat back to watch one or two. We had smoothies.

I don’t know where Gary’s energy came from since I had none. We had a lot of greens that needed juicing and he got to it.

Later he made a salad and I had a small portion.

There was still leftover pasta so Gary made sauce! Despite not having an appetite I enjoyed smelling the good flavors. I took a very small serving of pasta, sauce and tempeh.

March 12 – Day 396

Wanting me to eat more, Gary tempted me with waffles. It worked. I ate two with Apricot Butter. That was enough for the day.

Baked Potatoe Fries, Baked Tofu and Green Beans was served for dinner. I had no appetite. I may have had 4 string beans and a couple of fries.

March 13 – Day 397

Since I did well with waffles the day before, Gary made me more, this time with berry compote.

I couldn’t believe I still had a fever! My sore throat was long gone and I was feeling a little better, aside from the hacking that had begun. We went back over to the urgent care clinic only to be told I was okay, I still had to wait it out. When one of the staff was taking my vitals I complained that the blood pressure wrap hurt my arm. This happened to me the last time I was at this place. I have had my blood pressure measured many times and never had this terrible experience. Is it this machine?

Gary made a repeat of the dinner the night before with an added salad. I managed to eat a bit of everything.

Wanting to “celebrate” our recovery (hack, hack, hack) we headed over to On Demand and selected the Steve Jobs movie. (hack, hack, hack) With mint tea we went down memory lane and watched Steve Jobs on his mission to change the world. (hack, hack, hack) We both clutched our iPhones during the entire film. (hack, hack, hack) And now that it is over, Gary and I are back on our Macbook Pros. Thank you, Steve Jobs, mission accomplished. (hack, hack, hack, hack, hack, hack)