It was a strange and brutal illness. I had done some extra heavy work around the house, and at first thought I was just having some soreness from the work. Even when I started running a fever, I thought it still might have been from the work. Then it turned into a severe headache, and a fatigue started to develop that was worse than any I'd had associated with a winter flu. The headache evolved into a pressure in two distinct spots at the top and side of my head, which became a duller pain, but accompanied by a constant buzzing. The fatigue was extreme. I could go to sleep at any time I chose, and make it quick by simply concentrating on the buzzing in my head. My fever was constant, and often spiked up to 104, with 101 feeling like relief. (It was a week or more of this that finally got me to go to the doctor). Thankfully, there were absolutly no gastro-intestinal or respiratory symptoms. I actually had a good appetite during this sickness, and, in fact, had a strange craving for red meat. One of the oddest things about it: I gained a couple pounds during the course of the illness! Because of the fever I took aspirin constantly. I also drank huge amounts of water and Gatorade. I craved Gatorade, which is odd because I probably hadn't had any in 25 years, and I haven't had any since. When I finally went to the doctor, he asked what I'd been doing for the illness, and I told him I was taking aspirin. The night before I went to the doctor, the fever had broken. Telling him that, he said, just keep taking asprin; and didn't really do anything else for me except to say that if it got worse, he probably screwed up. It actually did get worse on the next weekend, with the final symptom of spotted rash coming and going, but then it gradually started to get better. It was several weeks before I was 100%. The buzzing in my head took a long time to go away. I only took one
full day off of work, but also could only go in for a few hours each day before I got too tired.
Interesting side note related to the buzzing in my head. Towards the time when I started to feel a little better, I sat down to play the piano. The piano sounded horribly out of tune. I suspected it had something to do with the sickness. I did a little experiment; a musician will know what I'm talking about. A piano IS out of tune, but it is the tuning that we accept, called equal tempered tuning. All octaves on a piano are in tune, but all fifths are out of tune. (When compared with the natural fifth (10th) of an overtone).
Knowing this, I played a fundamental note - the C below middle c - and let it ring, concentrating on hearing the natural harmonic g above middle c. Then I played the g above middle c, and, swear to God it sounded so flat you wouldn't believe it. This effect lasted several weeks.
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