Getting Over A Cold

I'm not exactly certain how I caught the cold. I think I know but it is only a suspicion. It doesn't really matter because the person I caught it from didn't mean to give it to me and couldn't have done much about it in the first place.

I don't know that it is a cold either. Maybe it is something else. It might be allergies but unlike I've had previously. It might be a new disease that no one has identified. Right! But it is my disease and I choose to name it and so I am calling it a cold.

It began with a listless Sunday for me. I didn't have any energy and I didn't want to do anything except sit and read and watch TV and sleep. But I didn't feel particularly ill. I was asked that question a few times and I was a little irritable at being asked and snapped back a few times. That day I did not believe myself to be sick either. It is only now looking back more than a week that I realize I was. Must have seemed more apparent to Judy though.

Next was the little cough that started. It was small at first and very quick. It would surprise me and force me to cough with no time to cover my mouth. Someone told me I should cover my mouth when I coughed. I think several told me that. It was embarrassing that I could not get that done. I think I did not know what to say.

Then there was the congestion and the increasingly frequent need to blow my nose. I am a loud nose blower. There's apparently a lot of empty space up there in my head or in my chest or wherever all this stuff is stored and I must have a healthy system that makes it all because I have a lot and it takes a lot of effort to get it out. And it is loud and I have to use more than one tissue. Finally I resort to paper towels.

Then my nose turns red and gets sore but by then I feel so bad that my nose is the least of my worries.

The throat is sore as can be. That lasted a couple of days. The eyes are watering. The nose is running. There is no energy. Hot showers feel really, really good if one can past the stage of getting into the tub.

Eating is difficult but in a way seems to help. Coke (as in Coca Cola) makes me feel better. Coffee is not appetizing.

Is it allergies? Or is it allergies and a cold? Or is it the flu? Should I go to the doctor? Should I stay home? Nothing really matters. I am as miserable one place as another.

Besides there are responsibilities. Even if one is not a caregiver there are responsibilities. Strange that I would have forgotten that during the caregiving.

Finally the week is done. The responsibilities shoved aside. I crawl into bed early. I think it was 8 pm or maybe earlier. It was Friday evening. I didn't care that Dr. G was investigating death in her morgue. I figure I might be next on her stainless steel table if I can't lay down soon. Then there's nothing. I remember nothing that is. Until the next morning sometime when I awaken. The entire Saturday is spent inside resting.

Well, resting and coughing and hacking and blowing my nose and breathing with my mouth open and not talking. Is that really resting? Can't decide for sure if the cough syrup helps or even if the Tylenol or whatever it is helps. Finally one tries because not trying seems nuts.

Judy ordered me some of that Capsaicin nasal spray called Sinus Buster. Wow!! That stuff works pretty well for opening up the old nasal passage.

Sunday makes it one week. I feel better early on and head over to the house and get a shower and maybe a coffee. If coffee is wanted then wellness is on the horizon. But the good feelings subside quickly. I always forget that part.

Monday is a holiday: Memorial Day. Not much remembering going on though but a lot of people at the lakes. The hacking cough is nearly gone but still present. The drainage is better. There is slightly more energy. Enough to do a load of laundry and work on a spreadsheet and word document.

Tuesday. I can face the world again today. Only an occasional cough. Still some drainage. Bought some more Kleenex or whatever brand it is. Got the big box. Wish they could fix it so the sheets would come out one at a time.

Of course Judy is sick. She's a few days behind me I think. Bless her heart.

Wednesday now. No drainage anymore. The nose isn't hurting. Can breath through the nose again all the time. Maybe a cough on occasion but not noticeable.

But have to take Judy to doctor today.

So much for colds.