February 4, 2008

  • Knocking on wood and almost missing the Super Bowl

    I don't get sick very often, but I just got over a dozy of something.  (Well, not "just", as I am finally finishing and posting this a month and a half later.)

    I think it was just a cold, with perhaps a bit of flu and my normally mild seasonal allergies thrown in, but I was almost completely out of it for about 36 hours.

    I was off Super Bowl weekend, and was really looking forward to the game.  While not a fan of either team (I actually pretty much "hate" both teams involved this year, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.), I just love all things football.  Growing up, football consumed much of my life.  I watched it every weekend, mainly the NFL, but a fair amount of college, and even occasional High School, USFL, and Arena League games.  I played football almost every day back in grade school thru high school.  I collected football cards.  I played tabletop paper football at lunch every day in the cafeteria.  I still own and play a handheld Mattel Electronic Football II game.  More recently, up until about 7 years ago I got together with friends to play touch or tackle football almost every Sunday.  And I was addicted to fantasy football for about ten years, playing it back when we had to use pencil and paper and do all the scores by hand.  But I digress.....

    So my sister was throwing a little Super Bowl party, and I was really looking forward to that as much as the game itself.  I love Super Bowl Party food.  Chips, chili, dips, soda, hot dogs; I'm drooling just writing about it.  I had gone out the day before and bought a bunch of stuff for her party, just to make sure she had my favorites on hand.

    I had been feeling a little under the weather (what does above the weather feel like?) for a day or so, had the sniffles at work on Thursday.  Friday and Saturday got worse, as I was becoming more and more congested.  I  took some Nyquil on Saturday night, which always work great for me, hoping to knock the cold out and sleep it off.  Sunday was just a horribly awful day for me though.  Whatever congestion I had Saturday tripled by Sunday afternoon.  I literally could not drag myself out of bed on Sunday.  Not only was I incredibly congested and have a horrible headache, but I was amazingly weak and drowsy.  And my mind wasn't working very well at all.  I spent about 36 hours in a state of semi-consciousness.  I couldn't sleep well, as I had to blow my nose every 60 seconds, and the sleep I did get was short bits of "am I dreaming or is this real?"  I'd jerk myself awake, reacting to these strange dreams.  I'd hear the phones ring, and would say hello, but the phones were still several feet away, unanswered..  I'd occasionally have moments where I was conscious enough to know that I should return the phone calls, as perhaps my family and friends were worried about me.  But I could not get my arms and legs to move.  Seriously, I almost feel as if I was drugged.  It was a pretty surreal 36 or so hours.

    I was awake enough to use my remotes to turn the game on that evening, and I caught bits and pieces of it.  But is was more like the Stuper Bowl for me.