Melissa Auf der Maur has come up with a unique way of chronicling her experience and recovery from the swine flu. The former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist has documented her bout with the H1N1 influenza strain, which she first contracted back in May, for online news journal The Mark.

"It turns out that, somewhere between a video shoot in Vermont, a heavy metal concert in London, and my own musical showcase in Toronto , I had indeed fallen victim to a world pandemic," Auf der Maur wrote. "I am now officially on the mend – thanks to a combination of naturopathic treatments and heavy-duty antibiotics, among other survival tools."

Auf der Maur first felt symptoms in May, when she came down with a stuffy nose, a sore throat and body aches. "But they came all at once," she explains, "and were far more intense than I had ever experienced. For a person who only gets ill once or twice a decade it was scary."

After being misdiagnosed with a sinus infection, the bassist later learned she had the H1N1 virus and says shortness of breath led to "a roller coaster of fever spikes." Now on the mend, Auf der Maur says she hopes to be immune to it when it comes back around as expected this autumn.

"When many other Swine virgins will be falling ill, I'll be good to go!" she writes. "However, have no fear friends: it's a terrible flu, but it is manageable, and we Swine veterans will be here to help you through it."