Husband works at hospital .. it's everywhere!

[relayerbob]

91. Sure

My wife's were almost to the letter what the symptoms published read: dry cough, sudden onset, chest pain and some trouble breathing (but not much). Fever of 102. Aches, pains, sick for over a week. We came very close to going to the ER, but with healthy doses of OTC meds and anti-biotics (not known if they had any impact), the fever broke and we didn't go. She said she's never felt anything like that, and she rarely gets sick.

Mine were more like the lead article from CNN: aches, pains, massive headache, nausea (I have menier's so anything hits my head, it turns into vertigo). Very sudden onset. I didn't check my temp (foolishly, but by then was talking care of my wife as best I could), but I was having alternating chills and hot flashes. Was also ready for ER when things subsided. Took me about 6 days to feel better, took her about the same. She had it worse, not everyone has the same symptoms, and not everyone who gets it presents with symptoms. I personally think it depends on where it gets into your system. In my case, my vomiting may have cleared the virus from the tracheal area - viruses don't like stomach acids.

We both got hit within 18-24 hours of each other, me first. We both assumed it was a particularly nasty version of the flu, and assumed it was from the restaurant. Our server was a very strange dude, he had just come back from some holiday, and I recall him coughing once or twice, IIRC, apologizing to us and to some other couple in another table.

Three days before it hit me, we had eaten at a very popular and very busy seafood restaurant in Buckhead, an enclave of Atlanta where there are a lot of travelers and visitors, and during the holiday season (we got it right before and through New Years).

There is absolutely no way for us to know if this was related, and could just be a fertile imagination but I'm not a big believer in coincidences. Having all the symptoms in the circumstances that we were infected in leaves us both wondering. Perhaps it was the flu, but it was different and very intense. We are both in our 60s, and I have heart problems, so I'm hoping that was it and we are possibly "immunized". But not taking any chances, for sure!