MY FIRST WEEK OF 2007

I began the new year by reading THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. I had read in Entertainment Weekly that Stephen King thought it was the best book that he read last year. So I picked it up and was not prepared for the horror and misery that was about to befall me. I found it to be a profoundly powerful book that is unrelenting in its bleakness. It is the story of a man and a boy, trying to survive in a post-apocolyptic America. It is instantly engaging and a quick read. Every review says t he same thing; that it leaves you dazed. One Amazon reviewer commented that after he finished the book, we stumbled outside and was startled by the sun and blue sky. It was an astounding book but not one I can quickly reccommend because of its horrific content.
As I was finishing reading this book at lunch on Wednesday, I began to feel ill. I began to feel cold. I was becoming the characters in the book. It was truly immersive. Then I finished the book and realized I was, in fact, ill. I came home after work, put the kids to bed and collapsed on the couch in the basement. I stumbled into work on Thursday, but left early. I won't describe my symptoms, but I had the flu, bad. I called in sick Friday and spent Friday and Saturday in bed, sucking down Theraflu, Gatorade and assorted pills. It was awful. Sunday was better, though, and I actually did stuff around the house, like take down Christmas lights. I was still sick, but not incapacitated.
Monday morning, I got out of bed, took a shower and left for work. I wasn't feeling too bad at all. I stopped for a banana and a coffee and drove off. About 25 minutes later I began getting chest pains. Really bad. I made the decision to go to the emergency room. I thought it was probably gas or indigestion, but it might be an infection from the flu or something. I signed in and got a quick blood pressure and EKG. Then I sat and waited. Ten minutes later and the pain was gone. I knew it had been gas. But I was already committed. They finally moved me to an exam bed and I waited and waited. Finally they took blood and gave me a chest X-Ray. Then I wated 3 more hours for results. Finally an attending asked me why I was there. I told him I had just eaten a banana and had chest pains. I figured it was probably gas or a piece of banana stuck or something. He pretty much said, "Yup, probably. Go home." Six hours later I left and went to work for a class I had to teach. Everyone who saw me and knew I had been in the hospital asked how I was. "Yeah, yeah, it was just banana pain."
I'm looking forward to the second week of 2007.