I'm getting over the flu. I'm a cancer survivor, and I've been concerned about two things - my exhaustion & my ears popping.

10 days ago, I came down with the flu (First time in over a decade, first time since I started taking the flu shot, which I did take this year.) I was shocked at hiw exhausted I felt, walking 6 ft makes me feel light-headed. I have spent the entire time in bed, with a few trips to the bathroom daily. The vomiting stopped after the fourth day, the fever stopped on the 5th day. I was waking up feeling a bit better for 2 days, then the coughing & wheezing intensified, on Saturday. Sat evening I went to the ER, they diagnosed bronchitis, gave me a breathing treatment & a Zpak (which I haven't yet purchased, since leaving the house seems an insurmountable task right now).

Then, Sunday, early in the AM I was on my way home from the ER in a cab. Blew my nose normally & my right ear popped. LOUD. It was painful, and I wasn't able to hear from that ear for hours. I've been blowing easy (my Mom said I was blowing too hard). Now, my left ear feels clogged & its hard to hear out of. I tried getting it to release gently, with yawns, but then it popped and now I can hear my own breathing through it. Its like having a microphone inside my ear. Now, they both pop when I blow my nose!

HOW do I protect my ears & eardrums? Do I stop blowing my nose? Is it an ear infection now? (I'm willing to gwt the Zpak if its really necessary, I try to avoid antibiotics if possible) SECONDLY, What in the WORLD do I do about the exhaustion? I'm serious about it, its scary to me! I have never been laid out with the flu like this....and, I've been shocked at how my body could fall so hard & fast! I spent 2014 going to physical therapy 3x/week, I regained mobility, reduced my opiates, and helped my pain. HOW can my body lose a years worth of effort in a matter of days? What on Earth do I DO to stop feeling so shaky, light-headed and exhausted? (I lost 16lbs last week, so I'm working on calories; but as a Lap-Band patient, I'm somewhat limited by my pouch, which holds about 3 shot glasses currently. I've been drinking water, Gatorade, and 7Up, eating everything I can. I'm feeling better, in that I don't feel as SICK, the aches, chills, fever etc are gone. My chest is crackly & wheezy (respiratory therapists description) They kept asking if I had asthma (I don't, that I know of) I'm still coughing up crap, but once I've coughed it up for 20 mins, it seems to be better, til I sleep again. Every time I awake, my chest is making noises to breathe & my nose is stuffed solid.

I had stage 3c adenocarcinoma, Endometrial. I did full-body radiation, minus limbs, gamma radiation. It was 5 months, and I received 50% of the lifetime grey coverage allowed. I was horribly sick w radiation, and used a acooter to get around. That was 2006. It took months & months of sleeping & rest to get better. Well, I don't have a scooter anymore, and my bedroom is upstairs! Why did my body fall so far & hard with exhaustion? Is that my new level of bottom? Is it particular to flu? Did I do something wrong in self-care? How do I get over the exhaustion, this time? I'm due to restart physical therapy, I delayed it til Friday, but have I lost last years work?