Moms don't get Sick Days

My job is 24/7. There are no holidays, and no sick days. Certainly there are no "personal days". When I do get sick, things around here can get insane. My kids can't stand it when they see me in bed, and not up and around as usual. My poor husband is saddled with all of my share of the responsibilities, plus his usual heavy load.
Once, when recovering from surgery, I lay in bed watching a cleaning lady, my mother -n-law, my mother, and a babysitter trying to take care of my house! They were having a very difficult time trying to cope. I saw then what it took to replace me and frankly it scared me to death! I have felt ever since then that I cannot "afford" to be sick.
I went just last week to the doctor who told me that I had a virus, and that it could last up to three weeks! I looked at her in panic. I told that it simply couldn't happen, that I could not be laid up in bed that long, I have way too much to do! She wasn't bothered by my outrage, she just shrugged and told me to take care of myself. Take care of myself? I almost laughed in her face!How do I do that? I'm too busy with everyone and everything else.
That is what we tell ourselves all the time. I'm too busy to take care of myself. If I don't though, I will end up back in that bed with everything falling apart around me. It's like that analogy of the airline attendant who tells us in case of emergency we must cover ourselves first with the oxygen mask before our child. It doesn't seem very motherly to take care of ourselves first. Though, it must be done for our very survival.