7 Days of Awful

[polychrome]

I thought about sharing obs while this was going on a few weeks ago, but I was much to miserable to enjoy it. So, I'm going to try to take some time over the next few days to share my memories of one of the yuckiest colds I've had in a long time...made additionally annoying by my pre-planned commitments to start mentoring a new student, work overtime and sing with a choir. Toward the end there will be just a little bit of male content, but this is primarily all about me.

Day One:

Up early for work...on a Saturday. Like I hadn't already been working enough overtime lately. I usually curse the alarm and smack the snooze button multiple times on a good day, but it was a little harder to drag myself out of my fleece sheets than usual and I was running late so no time for breakfast. No big deal. I wasn't at all hungry anyway. Two hours later I was still dragging and starting to feel a vague fuzziness at the top of my chest and back of my throat. The urge to cough grew steadily more tempting but when I finally found a dark and quiet corner to let loose, all I got was a sharp, dry anti-climax with anticipation immediately starting to build toward the next opportunity. At this point I figured the source must be some random, mild irritant. It couldn't be a cold because every time I catch a cold it *always* comes on the same way. A day of thick and sticky back of the throat where nothing tastes quite right followed closely by a sudden increase in frequent, dry sneezes that, less than 12 hours later, switch over to full on congestion, drips and gurgles. I sniffed tentatively, completely clear. I sighed with relief. Anyway, I couldn't be getting sick, a new student was coming to start working with me on Monday and there was no way to take a day off.

TBC

[Pilgrim]

Looking forward to hearing the rest

[polychrome]

Day 2:

Slept in until after noon but still feeling groggy. Day off from work but that just means there were more errands to run. Dry and wimpy coughs continued to increase in frequency directly proportional to my level of annoyance. Just in case I started my usual "I really don't want this to even think about transforming into pneumonia" series of deep breathing exercises. Slow and deep, filling my lungs all the way down to the base and slowly up to the top. Then holding a few seconds and adding more. And then more. Finally, just before bursing, quickly blowing out all the way down to the bottom, hoping to cause a deep, satisfying cough that would loosen and expell whatever it was tickling and burning in the top of my chest. No luck, so far all clear...but still the irritation remained. Grocery shopping with my husband I made sure to stock up on the essentials to make sure I could fake my way through work without putting anyone at risk. Working in a hospital my philosophy is that I'd have to stay home if I developed a fever or any upper respiratory symptoms I couldn't easily hide and control. New thermometer, big box of kleenex, my favorite honey-herb Ricolas, generic mucinex and plenty of juice. I tried not to look at the cashier as she scanned my obviously illness related paraphernalia. I wonder if she cared. At home I noticed my fingers feeling just a little stiff - ugh! Not a fever! New thermometer read 99.4 -- not technically enough to keep me home, but a few degrees higher than my usual 96.5. Oh well, early to bed, nervous for the long day ahead - meeting my new student, seeing a patient after hours for overtime and then choir practice until 10pm. If only I could stop coughing right before I was about to fall asleep.

[ichixshiro14]

Wow, this sounds like it was a miserable doozy of a cold!

[sillystarsmoons]

I agree it sounds like a horrible cold. I hope you're feeling better? Nice observations thanks for sharing.

[snowshie]

Sounds awful. Can't wait for more.