After a delicious meal of pot roast, lamb, and potatoes I headed home to Orlando and then off to bed.  A few hours later, I was in my bathroom with my head in my hands.  I will spare you the gory details, but I was hit hard by the flu.  For the next few days the thought of food made me sick.  I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes without feeling like I was going to keel over.  Remembering the advice of a loyal BackingIn.com reader, I called a friend and she brought over some regular Coke.  Supposedly, the Coke syrup is supposed to have medicinal qualities for the tummy.  I believe it was originally sold by pharmacists, colas that is, as a stomach remedy.  I'm not sure if if helped my stomach (the Pepto Bismol and Tylenol probably did the most to alleviate my symptoms), but I was glad to get the high-fructose corn syrup goodness into my system.  Ironically, I normally try my best to avoid the empty calories of sugary sodas, but the calories from the Coke combined with bed-rest were the only things aiding my immune system for couple of days.

Did I forget to mention the fever?  I can deal with almost any 'normal' sickness, but the feeling of being hot while shivering is the worst.  Nothing works better than Tylenol, for me, in dealing with fever, but even Tylenol can't fight off some fevers.  On the upside, I did get to use my new digital thermometer a whole bunch.  That thing is cool!  (Look, I was bored and I couldn't get out of bed to use the computer.  Cut me some slack here.)  The neat thing about fever is that it is your body's way of fighting infection.  Bacteria and viruses thrive at a body's normal temperature, so to make your body a less hospitable place for the bugs the immune system turns up the heat.  As I was laying in bed shivering and waiting for the medicine to kick in and lower my fever, I thought maybe I should let myself have a fever.  If I get rid of my fever with Tylenol, am I not just giving comfort and aid to the enemy?  Perhaps the flu virus was in cahoots with Big Pharmaceuticals to keep us all sick!  Luckily, my cat advised me to just take the medicine and get some rest and not think so much.  Since she has yet to talk since I've gotten better, I'm going to assume that my talking cat was a fever-induced hallucination.

I'm all better now, and what have I learned from my latest brush with illness.  First, my cat is a wonderful caretaker.  Second, never take your good health for granted.  It is a gift from God.  Third, Disney's Hollywood Studios will give you the flu and keep you out of work for a week.  I think that pretty much sums it up.