Last week I came down with a heavy, shaking cough. My chest hurt, and I was going from hot to cold faster than celebrity couples are getting engaged these days. I ended up at the doctor and found out I had pneumonia! Pneumonia y’all. That is one of the scary sounding ones! We have all read the blogs about how not to sick; but guess what? We all get sick at some point! This blog is to give you the real scoop on how to get through that inevitable icky sick day.

Number one, I had to pick up the five medicines the doctor prescribed. FIVE! The nurse kindly called the pharmacy ahead of time to make sure when I arrived everything was ready for me. Of course, nothing was ready. It turns out that my insurance doesn't work with my trusted pharmacy anymore. I was confused, feverish and exhausted at the pharmacy counter. I had to call my insurance provider right then and there. I talked to a robot and listened to ten minutes of bad hold music  to find out where I could get my medicine. In my exhaustion, I agreed to pay full price at my trusted pharmacy. I was too sick to go elsewhere and wait all over again. Step number one is simple – always stay up to date on insurance changes and keep the information somewhere accessible. Don’t wait until you can barely speak to call your insurance provider for the right information.

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Problem number two arouse while I was waiting for my prescriptions. I looked around the pharmacy shelves and realized – I had no sick day food at my apartment. My gorgeous Camden apartment had everything else I could need for my day to day life but nothing for my low day! I had margarita mix and hummus in case of an impromptu social gathering. I had cookie dough in case of a sad movie emergency. But absolutely nothing that anyone would recommend to a sick person. I, in my half-asleep state, loaded up my basket with Gatorade, 99 cent cans of soup, sparkling water, and so on and so forth. Evidence of my sleepiness – the sparkling water turned out to be canned orange juice. Major SOS moment: Save Our Sicky. The solution to problem number two is an easy one: always make sure your home has the essentials for any occasion. Soup for a sick day, water for an emergency, and margarita mix for whatever may come up.

When I got home and could finally relax, I crashed HARD. I was asleep for five hours in the middle of the day. It was a little magical. All and all, I balled up in bed for about 48 hours. Lucky for me, I had solved problem number three already! Problem number three was my bedding. You know what a fever will do to your body (oh hello sweat). I am so glad that I had a fresh set of sheets to switch out my sickbed sheets. When I was feeling better, the fresh sheets made me feel 100% and got me away from the germy mess I’d been laying in for two days.

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My last problem was very unexpected. Maybe it’s because I’ve never lived alone before (my roommate is away all summer!) but I never noticed the phenomena of “sick smell.” Parents, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. My parents talked about it every time my siblings and I were sick as children, but I never really knew. In my college years, having roommates moving around, cooking and living in our shared space must have kept the smell at bay. But after two days alone in my apartment completely giving into my bad feelings, the whole place smelled like a dog bed. Solution to problem number four: Essential oils and a good clean. The clean of course is two-fold, you want smells gone and you want to make sure those germs are 100% destroyed. Coupled with my favorite energizing essential oils (orange, lemon and rosemary) my apartment was fresh within an hour of my cleaning spree.

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Let’s review: Be ready with all your insurance info for your doctor, your pharmacy and your own sanity. Have emergency supplies on hand always – you never know what might come up. Always have back up bedding or a quick way to clean your bedding. You will never feel back to your best if you’re sleeping in your sick self’s mess. You don’t know her anymore, and you’re not sleeping in her bed sheets. And finally, have all the yummy smells and cleaning products that make you feel in charge of your environment. Get those germs out and your spirits up and you can handle that horrible sick day and get back to enjoying your amazing Camden home with it's poolside fun, amazing gym and unbeatably beautiful neighborhoods.