The H1N1 "swine" Flu virus has been a major story for 2009. The virus rapidly spread itself around the world and quickly developed into a flu pandemic. In Thailand, there were no reported cases at first. However, over time a few confirmed cases popped up from travelers. Then, non-traveling local Thais became infected. Finally, large populations of students in Thai schools became infected. At this point the Thai government stepped in and began their H1N1 initiative. Millions of masks were handed out, schools were closed, public areas were regularly sanitized, and there was more information made available to the public about the flu along with methods of protection and prevention.
Given the worldwide scare and the number of people infected, the H1N1 flu still seemed, to me, like something that "happened to other people" that weren't conscience of good personal hygiene. I like to think that I did a fairly good job being mindful of good hygiene. For example, I always make it a point to never touch my eyes, mouth, or nose when in public places until I've washed/sanitized my hands. This swine flu business is a bit serious but it has also been blown way out of proportion. Plus, I didn't personally know of anybody who had contracted the virus. I thought to myself, "I'll be fine!"
Wrong! I'm not sure how or when I contracted the H1N1 virus, but I did. Here is a recap of the day by day sequence of events.
Wednesday - I felt great. The week before, I had wrapped up my intensive but satisfying 4 week TESOL course. That Monday, I had an interview and received a job offer at a top choice location. With a full week and a half left before the term began, I was excited about the opportunity but looking forward to enjoying some down time. I woke up early so that I could meet up with my fellow classmates, Aey and Kim at the National Thai Museum. We met up, and had a nice English speaking tour of about 15 people on the history of Buddhism in Thailand. Next, we went to a fairly busy market near the river pier and had a long lunch. There weren't that many people in the cafe. Later, we walked around a bit and saw a few sights. Later that night I met up Princeton, his brother, and Princeton's roommate from his mission trip. It had been years since we saw each other. We hung out and ended up watching Harry Potter. As a joke, Princeton wore a face mask because of all the Thai people he saw wearing the masks. We parted ways and I took a taxi back home.
Thursday - I slept in and woke up feeling great. Amber was working and we ended up meeting for lunch. I took the above ground subway (a.k.a. "SkyTrain") and met her at a restaurant in her building. I ordered some chicken curry with a large glass of delicious Thai tea. After the meal, I noticed that my throat was dry and itchy but I didn't think much of it because I rarely drink tea and when I do my throat tends to dry out a bit. I ran some errands and relaxed for the rest of the day, but my throat was still scratchy.
Friday - Again, I woke up feeling great but with some discomfort as my throat was still dry and itchy. That night we met up with lots of friends at Charley Brown's and drank margaritas until the place closed. The alcohol pretty much numbed the feeling in my throat. Maybe it served as a disinfectant too!
Saturday - I woke up groggy. Didn't get enough sleep and my throat was still the same. Met up with most of the friends from the night before at Lumphini Park. It looked like it was going to rain, but it never did. We all had a nice time at the park eating, listening to music, playing cards, badminton, and Frisbee, fortune telling, etc. By the end of the day, I was spent. I came home, showered, and immediately felt really bad - weak, dizzy, and really hot. I assumed that it was exhaustion from being outside all day, plus lack of sleep and water. I had a quick dinner and went to bed early.
Sunday - I woke up feeling like a truck had hit me. My body ached all over. I had a bad headache. My throat felt like crap and I had developed a cough. I felt weak and very tired. My skin was hot to the touch but I felt very cold and wanted to curl up in blankets. I decided that something was wrong and went to see a doctor at the hospital. They took my temperature, I had a high fever of around 101F. They used a long q-tip to swab a sample way down in my throat (not a good feeling, it made me gag, but better than taking blood I suppose) to test for the flu. About 30 minutes later, I was told that I was positive for Influenza type A and I had an upper respiratory infection. The doctor told me I could have the H1N1 virus because it is among the many type A flu strains. For an additional fee, they took another throat sample and sent it to the H1N1 testing center to verify if I indeed had H1N1. The results wouldn't be back for another 3-5 days. The doctor prescribed lots of medicine for me including Tamiflu which is very expensive. About $10 USD per pill!! He gave me 10 pills - 2 per day for 5 days. I came back home and my fever seemed to have broken. I didn't feel hot and cold anymore. I rested for the rest of the day taking many naps.
My Regimen of drugs
Monday - It was a rough night. I woke up every few hours soaked in my own sweat - a pretty nasty feeling. I woke up in the morning feeling awful, weak, and with a constant headache. Unfortunately, we had to go to immigration to renew our visas. I didn't want to go but Amber's company is very finicky about these things and today was the day to go. We spent an hour or so at immigration. I was wearing my mask and trying to minimize my closeness to other people. What would they think if they knew I had the flu? The trip took all the energy out of me. I came home and napped for the rest of the day. My diet consisted of soup, water, Gatorade, and medicine. It was getting very annoying to wake up from sleep or naps in a pool of sweat. I weighed myself and saw that I had already lost (sweated off) 5 pounds.
Tuesday - A slight improvement. The coughing and chest congestion were almost gone - the antibacterial medicine did it's job. A lot of napping during the day. Every time I woke up my body felt like it went through a battle - weary but somehow productive. I felt a tiny bit better after each nap. My body still ached and the headache was still there.
Wednesday - Felt better. I had more energy, less body aches, still had headaches, but the sweating finally stopped. The frequency and length of naps were declining as well.
Thursday - Felt a lot better. I had much more energy and went out for the first time. I walked outside a bit and got some books. It felt good to be outside and walk around. The headache finally went away. I came back and took a nap. I noticed that I lost 10 pounds.
Friday - Felt very good. I had good energy and no more body aches. We decided to celebrate and went out for steak and beer. It felt good to eat such a hearty meal!
Saturday - Felt back to normal. I went to see the doctor for the follow-up visit. He confirmed that I indeed tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu, but that everything was fine now. Good thing, because I started my new job as a teacher in 2 days!
So it took about 10 days from the start of my symptoms to reach full recovery, and I amazingly lost about 12 pounds. Thank you Amber for bravely taking care of me, buying and preparing my food, and making sure I was clean and comfortable. This flu sucked just as bad as any other flu I've had. I have no idea how I got it and I doubt if wearing a mask would have prevented it. I saw so many people wearing protective masks but using them incorrectly! For example, I saw people in the subway holding on to the handrails held by million of other people, then reaching inside their mask to scratch their nose. This is exactly what you're NOT supposed to do people! (on another note, the custom here is to wash your hands BEFORE going to the bathroom, and not after)
I suppose my only "official swine flu survivor" advice is don't be afraid to see a doctor if you don't feel well. I went at the first sign of not feeling well. I'm sure that if I had waited a day or two, the respiratory infection could have gotten real bad, real fast. Lots of people want to tough it out when they don't feel well. Why? Your job or your pride isn't as important as your health. Go see a doctor, get the medication, and rest properly.
