I went to work this morning with a happy hop in my step.  I had just found my keys last night and it was Friday.  I got to work and our first patient of the morning was doing great.  I stopped by another patient’s room to say “hello” and was stopped at the door.  Apparently he had a fever and vomited all night.  There was a sign on the door and the nurse said that he tested positive for Influenza A.  Blerg.  That’s likely to be H1N1!! Oh great.  I paged Teresa (my PT partner) and the managers were informed.  Since Teresa and I (and my intern) work in such close contact with this guy, we were told to wear a yellow mask for the rest of the day and had to call Employee Health.  *sigh*  I suppose this was a good year for my first flu shot.  My manager was very happy to hear that I actually got it last month.  According to the screening, we’re healthy enough to not be at risk of having complications but the nurse recommended that we take Tamiflu as a prophylactic measure.  If we didn’t take the meds, we’d have to wear a mask at work until next Friday.  Just the thought of that made me nauseous.  With 10 days of pill poppin’, we would be able to return to work on Monday without a mask.

So, I got my free prescription from the pharmacist and I took pill #1.  I read some of the side effects and there’s a small chance for me to have the runs, puke my brains out, and pass out.  Yes!  In solidarity, Teresa and I agreed to give daily updates to each other this weekend.  We were initially hesitant to agree to the pills but it’s done.  I’ll be sure to provide updates here as well.  I feel just fine so far and I’m hoping to have dodged the swine bullet.  It’s going to be a rough winter/flu season and I hope that this is the worst of it for Team Tiger.