Liveblogging Swine Flu.

First off, I had it this week. Second, I am no longer contagious (at least according to my doctor). Third, everyone still appears to be terrified of me anyway.

So here's my after-the-fact swine flu "still alive-blog" report:

1. I felt sniffly and sneezy for a day or two last week. I thought I was getting a cold. By Friday, I felt feverish but not too terrible.

2. By Sunday afternoon, I felt awful. Fever was around 101 degrees. I was achy and alternating between sweating and chills. It felt like the flu, but not like a special, trendy kind of flu.

3. On Monday, I went to the doctor. I had to go in the back door of the clinic (there was a sign on the front door telling anyone with a fever to go around back). The nurse didn't touch me, but put me into an isolation room. Jeff and I joked that we expected the white-suited guys from "E.T." to appear. My doctor was sweet, as usual, and after asking me a bunch of questions, asked the one that made no sense: "Do your eyes hurt?" "OH MY GOD YES, MY EYES ARE KILLING ME." "You have H1N1."

4. I didn't get medicines. Neither did Jeff or our daughter. I went home and slept. I was told two important things: first, to stay home until I had been fever-free for 24 hours, and second, to watch out for respiratory complications. Apparently, this flu (more than the regular seasonal variety) tends to lead into secondary infections in the lungs--in other words, pneumonia.

5. The fever went away a day or so later, and I went back to work. Everyone at work was afraid of me. My pregnant colleague got Tamiflu. And my lungs started to feel raspy and crackly.

6. I went back to the doctor, who decided that I needed antibiotics to kick any lingering lung infection. I'm a couple of days into a course of antibiotics, and aside from a powerful cough, I feel like I am on the mend.

The bottom line? Not the worst I've ever felt, and as my doctor said, now I get the "I survived Swine Flu 2009" t-shirt. But still...wash your hands and don't cough on people!

Here's another account of swine flu (it sounds like a worse case than mine), by Lindsey Robinson at New York Magazine.