I finally believe what my father said is true. Someone who falls sick often will recover from his sickness in a short time; Someone who seldom falls sick will take ages to recover, or even his life may be endangered.Yes, I think it makes sense for the second category. After all, if someone whose immune system is ultra strong can get sick, it means the virus is so strong that it can destroy the antibodies completely. Therefore the body needs a long time to build up antibodies again to fight against the virus and hence the recovery time is long.
I fall into this second category. I have not caught the flu virus or had fever for the past 2 years. In fact, I even received a medical incentive of $100 from my company for taking only 1 day MC in 2007, and that was due to mild stomach discomfort. While there was a period which my whole unit took turns to take MC, my body was strong enough to fight against their germs and viruses. I was the only one who didnt fall sick. While I was still proud of this "victory" till last week, my immune system was put to a test after being in contact with a virus carrier (my husband) for 2 days.
Alas! My poor body had been fighting hard for the first few days. Just that stupid me neglected the warning signs of a strangely tired body and didnt have enough rest. Even on the 3rd day when I started to have running nose and had slight fever, I still thought I had recovered when the running nose stopped and even went out with my sis on the 4th day. I think my body could no longer take it. When I came home, the fever started building up again. At one time, my temperature hit 38.1 degrees Celsius. The panadol tablets did manage to suppress it quickly and that night before I slept, my temperature had dropped to 36.9 degrees Celsius. But the next morning on the 5th day, I woke up having my whole body aching. I knew the fever must be back again. True enough, the temperature was 37.8 degrees Celsius. I finally decided to see a doctor.
When I came home from the doctor's visit, my temperature had already risen to 38.6 degrees Celsius and I had a bad running nose and cough. All symptoms of flu started showing up. I even thought I was about to lose my life (after all, I had not had such high fever for almost 10 years!). Even after taking the medicines from the doctor, I still had slight fever till the 6th day, but at least I was recovering...
I guess my body has to build up its immune system all over again. It is really depressing that the strong foundation built up over 2 years had collapsed eventually. Maybe I need to go for flu vaccination before my Japan trip, in case I fall ill again while I am there...
