This Cold Really Blows!

I'm not talking about the weather here, but I have been "under the weather" now for over a week. I have been experiencing just how much it sucks to be sick. I had almost forgotten. I suggested late last year that I rarely get ill. Since the day that I foolishly made that claim, life has hit me back twice for my bit of bragging. This week I have had one of the all-time worst colds ever and it's not over yet. The common cold--it's viral, so I won't get this one again. That's about the best thing I can say today.

It all began with an innocent little "productive" cough with no other symptoms. Then it started moving on up, with a vengeance. Next thing I knew I was nothing but a big pressurized mucus-head with two nearly plugged drainage holes. Then I lost my sense of taste. A full week later, I am still coughing up gunk and wheezing like an asthmatic and my eyes kinda hurt. One final insult--a cold sore is beginning to form on my upper lip. I don't get cold sores anymore!

I don't even have medications for any of this. I took some Tylenol one day when my head hurt. Last year I had purchased a fresh Vicks Vapo Rub for the husband, so one night I tried a dab of that.

When I was little my mother used to rub Vicks all over my chest and cover it with a soft flannel cloth, pinning it to my jammies. I suffered from some bronchial issues as a young child and frequently became "croupy." My mother always thought it was a vestige of my near death from whooping cough when I was two and was quite attentive to my illness, as I recall.

At least I am virtually drug free--beats taking a bath and dying of an overdose in the tub--wouldn't trade for that! I guess that's the second good thing I can say about this experience: better in bed than dead.

(Tomorrow will be Whitney Houston's funeral. Another sad day for those millions who are obsessed with their pop idol gods. (I didn't use the i-word!))

I have not had a fever or flu symptoms and have been mostly functional, as long as I had access to rolls and rolls of Cottonelle with Aloe and E--a roll in the Jeep, a roll by the computer, a roll on my pillow...

 Two afternoons were nearly 40 degrees and sunny so I spent some time raking mounds of wet leaves off emerging daffodils. The fresh air seemed to clear my head. I had some dog-sitting responsibilities as well, but mostly sat around indoors all week, feeling totally miserable. I'm not good at sick.

Hey, I know--it's just a cold, but this one has turned me into one mad, mean, mucus machine.