Get well soon, Savannah!
TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie called in to the show Friday to give an update on her health after writing on Instagram Thursday that the reason she has been out of work all week is because she has pneumonia.
"I have a terrible case of guilt for missing this week and leaving you guys high and dry,'' Savannah said. "I was talking to my mom yesterday and she was like, 'Savannah, you have not been this sick in your entire life,' and it's really true.
"I really have never been so laid out flat. Really, it's just a lot of misery."
Savannah said she was officially diagnosed with pneumonia on Thursday, when she posted on Instagram about her rough week of being under the weather.
"Well. It’s pneumonia,'' she wrote. "Explains a lot."
Her caption accompanied a vintage poster reading, "Pneumonia strikes like a man-eating shark led by its pilot fish the common cold."
"It's not a cold, it's like I just couldn't get the fever to break so I've just been on round-the-clock medicine to keep the fever down,'' she said Friday. "Honestly I was shocked that it was pneumonia because I feel like I breathe pretty well, I'm not wheezing or anything. I thought it might be flu, but I had the flu test and it was a negative."
Savannah's son, Charley, 2, is also sick.
"He's like a burning hot appendage who doesn't want to do anything but just like sit next to me,'' she said. "He wants me to carry him everywhere, so he and I are in misery and (husband) Mike (Feldman) is wearing a hazmat suit."
Earlier this week, Savannah shared a sweet get-well card that she got from one of her kids after she had to call out sick on Monday.
"When your little one makes you a get well card," she wrote on Instagram.
Vale had pneumonia about three weeks ago, which Savannah said she was told could have been a factor in her and Charley falling ill.
"The incubation period of some of them, like something that's called atypical pneumonia ... from the time you're exposed to the time you get sick, it can be one to four weeks,'' NBC medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar said on TODAY Friday. "So the timing definitely could work there (with Savannah)."
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can cause mild to severe illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include cough, fever, and difficulty breathing.
"Flu is influenza, it's a viral infection,'' Azar said. "Pneumonia typically is caused by a bacteria, although it can be caused by viruses and fungi as well. Sometimes it's not that easy to tell the difference between a really bad cold or a flu and a milder case of pneumonia because they're respiratory infections."
Washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand rub also helps prevent pneumonia and other respiratory infections, the CDC says.
Rest and proper hydration help the recovery process.
Here's hoping that Savannah and her bright smile are back on TODAY soon!
"I hope to see you Monday,'' she said.