Of Quarantine and Mutiny

I had such high hopes for this week, so many things outlined on so many To Do lists - all for naught.
I woke up Monday with a scratchy throat and knew that i had finally caught the croup that the rest of the team had been passing around for weeks.
Crap.
I downed some OTC meds (better living through chemistry i say) and set off for work.
By the time i got there i was feeling a bit foggy and asked team member AJ to drive to Virginia for our show (i prefer to drive in the morning). The whole way there i got more and more dizzy and lightheaded, but once at the school i went in to make first contact and set up the show.
The first show went fine though i could feel that i was really straining my voice, but by the end of it i was nauseous and achy.
During the break i rested in the van and left resetting the show to AJ. I went into the school long enough to perform the show and i can honestly say that i have no idea how we made it through the show. Fifteen years of muscle memory must have carried me through. I know that i did an extra section cause if i stood still the nausea was worse and i know that i spent part of AJ's section on liquid nitrogen throwing up in the bathroom and i know that there was a teacher in the front stage left who had long brown hair that thought everything was hysterically funny, but that's all i remember.
Things get really fuzzy after that : i went to the van while AJ packed, we drove home, i kept lapsing in and out of consciousness, i made several phone calls to rearrange shows for the next day, i was in excruciating pain...
We ended up at urgent care. I've never been to one before and it was an interesting experience (from what i remember) cause it was like the emergency room and the doctor's office at the same time. There was insurance stuff and copay and paperwork - i only remember that no one cared that i didn't have my shoes on.
There were tests.
I was freezing.
They had to take blood and start an IV, but i was so dehydrated that my veins kept collapsing. [man am i glad that i forced myself over the needle phobia a few years ago cause this would have sent me in to a heart attack]
I recall that everyone was kind and gentle.
At one point i told a nurse that i needed a bucket or a bathroom and she brought me a biohazard bag - that was really a boost to the old self-esteem.
Two liters of saline, a shot for the vomiting and a shot for the pain later, team member Felicia took me home stopping to buy saltines and Gatorade.
The doctors said i had a virus and i should force fluids and take tylenol - helpful.
The pain shot they gave me must have been akin to elephant tranquilizer cause the rest of the night is pretty much gone.
I apparently drug-dialed Matt and left a rambling (but according to him highly entertaining) message on his voicemail.
Let me know if i called any of you Monday night as well.
Meanwhile, back at work plans had been set in motion to get my keys from urgent care, take my car home, move my Tuesday show to Wednesday and cover all the shows without me.
A call came on Tuesday afternoon that i shouldn't come back to work until Friday at noon.
Yep.
I got thrown out of my own office, people.
The team, along with Stacey and Pete and Erin, had rearranged everything so that i could stay home and recover.
Aren't they awesome?
You wanna know how sick i was?
I didn't even protest; i had one condition to my surrender (that a meeting with Northrup Grumann be cancelled) but other than that i was relieved.
The smartest part of the coup was that Stacey made the call to me : if a team member had called i could have said "no" cause i'm the boss and if the director of education had called i would have felt like i was in trouble, but having another supervisor from my department who is lateral from me in the hierarchy call was brilliant.
I just said yes and went back to sleep.
Last night i actually slept more than 2 hours in a row and I feel almost human again.
I showered, rested, got dressed, rested, went to BK for some hash rounds, rested and then drove to the library.
When i'm done here i think i will take a nap.
I'm really proud of my team and feel lucky that when they rise up in coup it is to protect me (from myself) and not to overthrow me.