Trapped in a 5-Star Hotel

Special note to Cake Goddess: I don't think I had what you had, so please don't feel guilty! My flu symptoms were not like yours at all!

I spent three of the last 6 days trapped in a 5-star hotel room in Vegas. I was staying at the brand new Palazzo (connected to the Venetian). My company was paying mega-bucks for me to be here and train people. And I'm good at that. Except when I can't do it because I'm sick, as was this case. After two productive days, I came down with the flu and I was leveled.

Now I've been known to push through illness in the past, and I would have this time, had I been able. But my body sent a clear no-go to that. I was light-headed and feverish. I couldn't have walked to the conference facility, let alone greeted up to 3,000 people. So I stayed in my luxurious hotel suite (it's an all-suite facility), slept and watched TV on one of the three flat-screens in the room. It doesn't sound too bad, except that I desperately wanted to be home. I would have made a bee-line home if I had felt better. But I couldn't and so I didn't.

Instead, I slept and slept and fought with guilt over not being there with my team. The team was kind and caring and my co-worker Connie took a special risk to visit me. (May she stay well.) And the kindness of a stranger touched me deeply. I ordered a bowl of soup and toast ($33 with room service and taxes!), and the woman who brought it noticed I was ill. She promptly ordered up a humidifier for me, and that made all the difference! The tiger raging in my throat calmed and my lips stopped cracking. I wept because I was so touched that she cared enough to help me.

Fortunately, I started feeling better yesterday and today felt well enough to make the trip home, as scheduled.

What I've learned is this:
* There's no place like home when one is sick
* Sometimes we can't do what we plan, even when our heart is in it
* The kindness of strangers has amazing healing powers