Friday, February 21, 2014

cough, cough, cough

Man, this is a persistent virus. I thought I was beating it yesterday afternoon but overnight, I coughed ALL NIGHT LONG (I think I got about 2 hours of sleep, maybe). My entire back hurts from coughing. I did get up again around midnight and set up my humidifier in the vain hope that slightly-more-humid air might make me cough less. Trying to sleep nearly sitting up (which I can't do anyway) didn't help; lying flat on my stomach actually seemed to lead to less coughing.

(I also slept less than I might because of the mass quantities of water I drank during the afternoon and evening to try to prevent coughing).

I had a slight fever (99.4) when I got up and I contemplated taking a sick day. But this is also the day when I cover Senior Seminar, and I didn't want to leave my colleague-who-is-in-charge-of-the-class hanging (if I had known 2 days ago I would have felt like this today, I might have approached him about rescheduling)

I'm hoping "Chrutercraft" (or however you spell it) doesn't fail me; I picked up some of the honey-herbal Ricolas (after carefully reading to make sure they didn't contain licorice root, but I'd almost be willing to risk a temporary blood-pressure spike to get rid of this cough.)

Sometimes people joke about "man colds" (which is really a misnomer; I've known men who got pretty sick who just went all stoic and kept going and were all "just leave me alone to get better" and I've known women who got some minor thing and wanted someone RIGHT THERE to attend to their every need). I can't get "man colds" because I don't have anyone to get me glasses of water (or a fresh-pressed hanky if I sneeze, or tea with honey from the bees....) so I just have to suck it up and keep going. If I don't have the energy to cook, I have to figure out something I can eat without cooking. Or manage what I can in the house. (I unloaded the dishwasher this morning and had to sit down for five minutes afterward).

Hopefully, after Senior Seminar today, I can just go home and get back into pajamas and sit on the couch and stare at cartoons on tv and maybe my immune system will kick this thing to the curb enough that I don't cough myself to pieces again tonight.

(This really, really needs to be mostly entirely gone by Tuesday; I have a dental checkup I have rescheduled 3 times now and I don't want to be trying to suppress coughing through the whole checkup)

2 comments:

purlewe said...

as crazy as this sounds (and I don't do it often) if I can't sleep due to coughing I do a shot of liquor. I sip it down and then fall asleep. The coughing subsides due the alcohol and it helps me sleep. But man I have to be DESPERATE. Wishing you well.

Charlotte said...

Maybe it's time to see your doctor?