I had expected this to be a pretty good day.  The workweek was over, and Double XP weekend has begun in City of Heroes, one of my favorite games.  To top it all off, I bought a new mobile phone, except it is more like a small always-online computer.  A small, SLOW computer, but even so.

But toward the end of the workday, I noticed that I was feeling weak. I came home and saw that my pulse was far above normal, so that just standing was the equivalent of exercise.  I tried to mow lawn again since it wasn’t raining today, but had to give it up, my pulse was way out of normal range then. I also had a slight headache and my skin felt warm to the touch.  The temperature was only elevated by less than a degree Celsius, though.

Over the course of the evening my hemorrhoids have grown ever more painful. These made themselves known earlier in the week as I had a near brush with constipation after adding salt to my diet.  There hasn’t been anything the last day or two to cause this pain though, which is worse than in many months at least.  Anyway, I haven’t heard of anyone getting fever from hemorrhoids (and I suspect 9 out of 10 women have had worse piles than I) so instead I was like OMG SWINE FLU PLZ HEAL in my head.

However, the pulse has gone down a bit, as have the other symptoms, except the hemorrhoids which are getting steadily worse. -_- I’ve read that a blood clot may happen in these occasionally and cause unbearable pain.  It is however not fatal (or about in the risk range of meteor strikes).  So the flu would be worse.  Last time I had (normal, seasonal) flu, the fever came in the night, and when I woke up it was just barely I did. I had to crawl, literally, to the bathroom, where I somehow with great effort got the cold water to run and splashed enough on me to cool me down to where I began to think clearly and take full control of my body. That was a near miss.  But at least I am not responsible for anyone else, so all I need to focus on is staying alive.  Tonight I am eating a small dose of paracetamol before going to bed.  I generally avoid Paracet because of the risk to the liver, and Aspirin because of the stomach lining, but right now my priority is a bit different. Dying with a great liver is not a priority. Not that I think the Great Flu would withdraw this easily, so I really don’t know what it is.  But just in case.