Feeling the effects of the flu!

I have spent the week with the flu and I am just amazed at how hard it hits you and how quickly too! Today, I have my fever down to 100 from 102-104 all week and I can't believe how weak I have been feeling. I am diabetic and I did get a flu shot, but the doctor tells me that there are strains of the flu that the shot doesn't cover, and of course it found me! I am sure when I took my son to the doctor last week I picked up the germ. I hate going into the doctors office and as I have laid on the sofa or in bed feeling like death is imminent I went over every person in that office that day trying to find someone to blame. There was an older lady sitting in the corner and she was definitely sick, she could of been the culprit. Or, my sons girlfriend came over and said her mom was home sick with the flu so she could of brought me the germ as well. No matter how it came to me it hit me hard. The only benefit is that having the vaccine already the doctor says that it won't last as long and I am starting to believe that. Although, I have had horrible blood glucose levels while being sick, and of course this is natural. When an illness occurs for a diabetic it can turn everything upside down. It's imperative that a diabetic check their blood glucose levels often during illness to keep everything in check, so that medical treatment can be sought if things get out of control. I am sure part of my weakness a part from the flu in general and the fever is that my sugar has been running relatively high.
To add to my joy this week my husband has been attending school for his job. He's not been here to help me with the children or animals, except in the evening and well by then the worst is over. Any mom knows its the mornings that are horrid when you are sick and you have others to get prepared for the day. No matter the age of children, mom still has to prod them along getting them up and ready for school, feeding them, making sure they have brushed their teeth and that they get out the door with all their homework, books and lunches or lunch money. It can be very stressful when you feel terrible! Of course, my husband fell into that get them ready for school category this week with his routine being upset having to rush around to get out the door much earlier than usual. Yesterday, in his rush he knocks his travel cup off the table onto the floor, of course the lid flies off and out spills all the COFFEE onto the carpet. I was at my worst at that point and thought oh great, especially since I had cleaned the carpet last week spending hours to get the entire upstairs done. Now, I have a nice cappuccino stain on the carpet, thankfully, my carpet is beige anyway so its just a shade off! I found a great site on how to remove coffee stains from carpet, I can only hope that my hard work pays off.
I might as well not stop here, as I whine and complain about my week with the flu! We have a 55 gallon aquarium with two Oscars and a plecto (algae eater) one Oscar was a tiger and the other an albino.

















We have had trouble with our tiger Oscar for a long time thinking he had a fungus. We had medicated and cleaned the tank repeatedly, trying to heal this poor fish. He died the other day and although its very sad that whatever it was that was making him sick took his life, I do feel better that he's not suffering. I worried so every time that we put medication in the tank that it might be causing him pain, you know stinging when you put something on a open wound. I did research and found out it wasn't a fungus but it was what is called hole in the head disease. Which is common with Oscars. Hind sight is 20/20 I wish I would of looked and researched prior to his death to find out about it. We did ask the pet store and everyone would recommend different things that we would try. Now, I feel so sad for the other Oscar in the tank alone missing his partner. They were put in the tank together the size of quarters and grew up to the big beautiful fish that they are together. Now the albino just seems so lonely. I am considering getting another fish for him, but then I'm afraid it will be a mutiny with adding a new fish to an established tank. I may just opt to spoil this one rotten and try to give him extra attention. I know you are saying this woman is crazy thinking this way about a fish. Well, first if you know me you know I am a crazy lady when it comes to animals. I love animals. But, really Oscars are very personable fish that have great personalities and can even learn to respond to a name and do tricks as well. If ever you have had an Oscar you know what I am talking about and you know that I'm not crazy for wanting to spoil our albino and give him extra attention.

Now that I am on the mend, I am feeling more like cooking I guess. I have been living off of graham crackers and a bit of soup. My husband made me pancakes the other night which actually tasted quite good, its been hard to eat and I've lost 4 pounds. Now, that IS the only thing good about the flu! Everything I put in my mouth has tasted horrible it seems. I found a great website that has information about foods for people that are sick that should have healing benefits. It's got information about a lot of different nutrition areas, diabetics, illness, and more. Check it out! There are 7 healing foods that help fight colds and flus and if you can get them down they are supposed to be helpful. I think they are more suited for that time before you hit the sofa! So far, a bit of dry toast, chicken noodle soup and graham crackers has been my mainstay and of course as much water as I can drink. It's so hard to drink a lot of water when you are sick even though it tastes so good when you do drink it, but I think it's because you sleep so much!

Here's a quickie that I find nurturing when sick:

FAST CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP
3 pkgs. frozen chopped broccoli 2 cans cream of celery soup 1 onion Butter 1 pt. light cream 2 c. milk Cook broccoli. Saute onion in butter. Mix broccoli, onion, and celery soup, then put into blender. Put back into pot and simmer, slowly adding milk and cream.

Mushroom Barley Soup Diabetic Friendly

(makes 6 servings)

1/2	ounce (14 g) dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms

1	cup (240 ml) boiling water

olive oil cooking spray

3	large cloves garlic, minced

2	medium onions chopped

1	rib celery, chopped

1	pound (480 g) button mushrooms, sliced thin

2	teaspoons (10 ml) light soy sauce

2	tablespoons (30 ml) dry sherry

3	cups (720 ml) 98% fat-free, no-salt-added canned beef broth

2	cups (480 ml) water

1/2	cup (75 g) medium pearl barley

3	carrots cut into coins

2	sprigs fresh thyme

1	sprig fresh rosemary

freshly ground pepper

1. In a small bowl, soak the dried mushrooms in the boiling water for about 20 minutes. Chop the mushrooms on a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Strain the liquid in a sieve lined with a paper towel and set aside.
2. Coat a heavy nonstick soup pot with cooking spray. Add the garlic, onion and celery. Cook, stirring often until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the mushrooms, soaked dried mushrooms, soy sauce, and sherry. Sauté until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the broth, water, soaking liquid, barley, carrots, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Season with pepper and serve.
3. Before serving, remove the herb sprigs. Ladle into warmed bowls. Serve immediately.

Per Serving:	132 calories (5% calories fat), 7 g protein, 1 g total fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 25 g carbohydrates, 6 g dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 162 mg sodium
Diabetic exchanges:	1 1/2 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch, 2 vegetable)

Hopefully, in a few days I will be back to good and ready to get back into my spring cleaning mode. That is still there in the back of my mind as I lay here watching my family make messes and know that as soon as I have my energy back I have a lot of work to do! :(