On being sick and losing my appetite

I hate being sick. I hate being stuck in the house with a huge headache, aching muscles, bad tummy, feeling nauseous, and feeling chilly on a warm tropical night. I hate not being able to do anything but sleep, mope around and moan. I hate not being able to eat.

Now, that is a real sign that something is wrong with me. The only times I have lost my appetite are whenever I'm sick, when my father died, and when my mother went into a coma for a week before eventually passing away. I remember coming to school a week after my mother's funeral and one of my classmates commented on how awesome I looked having lost weight. With a big smile on her face, she asked, "What did you do? Did you go on a diet?" Poker faced, I answered, "My mother just died." For the first time in the years that I've known her, she didn't know how to respond to that one.

After my father died when I was five, I lost my appetite and grew really thin. My mother said I wouldn't eat even if she brings me my favorite food. She got so worried that she brought me to a witch-doctor to find out if some otherworldly being has been causing me to stop eating. The witch-doctor said that there are spirits who are feeling sorry for me because I have just lost my father. Now, how that affects my appetite is something I don't understand. Eventually, my mother found out that the spirits weren't causing my loss of appetite. I had primary complex. So, the doctor had me take some medicine and vitamins, and my mother decided to bring me to the province to live there and be brought to the beach every so often. Clean air and sunshine did me well.

I hate being sick. I think the universe heard me when I commented a week ago that I never get sick and how I wish I could get sick so I could have some time off work. Well, I got my wish. I had to even cancel an out of town trip at the last minute because I didn't think I would be well enough to make it. Was it worth it? No. I'd rather be well and in the office working than be stuck at home with a headache and a bad tummy worrying about meeting my deadlines, and peeking into my email once in a while. Hate it. Hate it. hate it.

I hate being sick but I'm better now. Headache's gone. Fever's gone. Tummy's better. The best thing of all is I have my appetite back. I think it's time for dinner now... and yes, I have to get back to work and meet my deadlines.