estherh: You are so right. Several years ago I had a virus. (The doctor couldn’t find any other explanation, so she decided it must be a virus.) It began slowly. One knee hurt a bit. Then the other knee hurt. It wasn’t long before every joint hurt. Walking was extremely painful. She was probably right that it was a virus, as it eventually went away. I love to walk. And since that time, I am grateful for every step I take.
More recently I had an illness that wasn’t terribly serious, but it kept me in bed for over a week and I could barely eat. Erev Shabbos during that time I had to go out and buy bread and wine. I barely made it to the store and had to take a bus home. Two weeks later I was able to complete all my errands. I didn’t do anything extraordinary that day, but I realized that we need to thank Hashem that we can get through an ordinary day. Just being able to do what’s ordinary is a tremendous bracha that we so often do not appreciate.
I’m very glad that you recovered from that reaction and pray that it never happens again and that you have a speedy refuah shleimah.