Being Sick as an Adult Is…

being sick as an adult, being sick is the worst, commitments when sick

Being sick as an adult is the worst.

Guys, let’s be honest. When you’re a little kid and you get a cold, it’s amazing. You get to skip school, stay at home all day and watch movies! A slight whimper means your mom is on her way with a popsicle. Sure you have the yucky feelings and the doctor visit to put up with, but you know on the way home there will be a milkshake stop and a movie rental.

In college it gets a little harder to be sick because you don’t want to miss out on anything.  You fight being sick with everything you have.  It’s not because you want to go to your classes, but because you want to be with your friends – going out, doing something that you will remember for the rest of your life.

As you get older it gets harder and harder to be sick. Maybe my body doesn’t bounce back like it used to, maybe my patience is running thin. I don’t know. But being sick as an adult is the worst.

Last Friday I stayed home from work with a migraine. I slept ALL DAY. No joke. I woke up for about 2 hours around lunch time and an hour around dinner time. I slept the rest of the day.

I guess should have realized my body was telling me something.

being sick as an adult

During the weekend my body started to break down. My throat started hurting, a cough started, and I could just feel the sickness in my body.

You know the feeling right? Your chest starts feeling constricted, your body starts aching and you know you’re done for.

By Monday I was full blown sick and realized DayQuil was not going to solve my problems. However, I couldn’t get in to see my doctor until Wednesday. Should I have gone to Urgent Care? Probably.

Because here I am, it’s 5:00am on Wednesday morning and I’m wide awake. My fever has spiked a little, my throat feels like I’ve swallowed thousands of tiny razor blades, and my nose won’t stop running.

I missed the end part of Monday at the office because I came home and slept. I missed the middle part of Tuesday for the same reason. And I fear the first part of Wednesday is already lost.

baby playing on picnic blanket, being sick as an adult

But as an adult who has time to be sick? The baby doesn’t understand why Mommy can’t hold him as much or put him to bed like she does every night. He doesn’t understand why at 6pm the past few days Mommy disappears (Daddy is a fun substitute because he takes the little guy outside to go swinging!). But it’s so hard to not be around him as much as I want.

It’s hard to miss work. It’s hard to feel like crap making breakfast, getting dressed, and putting on my makeup just to look as yellow as I did without it.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the doctor gives me the good stuff this morning and I start to feel better fast.  I don’t think I can take a full week of feeling this awful.

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Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®, a budget and financial strategist helping families pay off debt and live the life they've always wanted.