Guess What?

3

February 19, 2013 – I’m sick!

I used to get colds fairly often when I was younger, now they are relatively rare – thankfully! I haven’t had the flu in longer than I can remember.

My colds generally fall into one of a few different categories.

#1. There is the dreaded dry hacking cough that goes on 24/7 for about four or five days. I cant take cough suppressants due to a sensitivity to dextromethorphan – the DM in pretty much everything on the market. So I generally drug myself stupid with sinutab extra strength and a glass of wine to knock myself out so I can at least get an hour or two of sleep. Yeah, that one’s fun.

#2. The woke-up-without-a-voice cold. This one is mildly amusing. It doesn’t hurt, it just feels like someone covered my throat with a wool sock and nothing comes out but a squeak. It usually lasts two days or so and everyone thinks I am in tremendous pain because it wounds so awful.

#3. The Good-grief-where-does-all-the-mucus-come-from? cold. This one always makes me feel like a freak of nature. How can the human body produce so much goo? And because there is so much mucus being produced, you also end up with that rattling phlegmy cough to add some fun. You blow your nose so much that your skin is raw and you look like something out of a comedy film. Microbiology and the pathophysiological response systems are astounding!

#4. The OMG-my-throat-feels-like-it’s-missing-the-lining-it-hurts-so-bad cold. Swallowing results in so much pain that it hurts up into your ears. Not only do you not want to eat, but you see how long you can go without normal reflexive swallowing just to try to avoid the next round of ouch.

#5. The little bit of everything cold that is some blend of all of the above. Sometimes it leans a little more one direction than the other.

I felt it coming on late Sunday, did go into the office yesterday, and decided that I should heed my own advice whenever anyone around me gets sick – stay home, don’t share. It sucks working around people with kids. But I had a moment of inside-my-own-brain humour yesterday on the way home. I hate riding transit in the winter because the buses are closed up and everyone is spreading microbes. But I had to take the bus home, so it seemed funny to me that I was the one blithely sharing the joy to unsuspecting riders nearby.

When I woke up this morning, the plague was well dug in. And it appears that I am enjoying number five at the moment, though it’s leaning towards number four, with an occasional appearance of number one. This one often tends to be the fastest of my colds to clear, although those coughing fits are coming more frequently and that adds to the misery that is my throat. I’m hoping this one will pass quickly. Until then I am living on tea with honey and lemon. Soothing to my throat, and full of healthy antioxidants and antimicrobials. Later I’ll add rum to the mix to help knock me out.

I looked back in my Flickr stream to see if I could find out when I last had a cold. Doing three years worth of 365 challenges provides a pretty good diary of one’s life over the period.

And what do you know, last year I took a similar shot on February 22nd. Only off by three days.

Apparently I’m nothing if not consistent.

113 in 2013 – #20 – Guess What?