sick

I can breathe again

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I feel so much better today!  Also, apparently I have named blog posts “So much better” twice already, so I will not name this one that.  I took most of Wednesday off from work to lay on the loveseat and read (I finished one book, started and finished a second, and started a third), had a ridiculously bad night for sleeping that night (congested, coughing, hot, cold, uncomfortable), suffered through work on Thursday, slept on the loveseat last night (I propped myself up in a corner and didn’t have to worry about keeping John up), and went for a run when I woke up this morning because I could breathe!  Mostly.  Enough.  No extra cold medicine needed today, and the only thing I’m fighting is a headache.  And a desire to not work anymore, but that’s every day.

Low energy

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This past weekend was nice and relaxing (we went to visit my friend Chastity), but we came back to real fall weather, and apparently, I’m allergic to fall in Providence.  Yesterday was Sore Throat Day, and today is Congestion Day with a special appearance by Do I Have a Fever? I Might Have A Mild Fever (I Probably Don’t Have A Mild Fever).

My point is that I’m tired and being a whiny baby about it.  I’m not very much fun right now.

It doesn’t get lazier than this

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John isn’t feeling well, and we had a really late night last night, so we declared today a lazy day.  We slept until 10, I went out to get breakfast, and then we watched The Crown for the entire rest of the day, curtains closed, world shut out.  We quit at 8pm, seven episodes in, because we have to get up early tomorrow.  All we want is to spend tomorrow repeating today, but that’s not the responsible thing to do.

Adulting sucks, but today was pretty good.

I don’t think it’s Oregon

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I have heard from a lot of people here that everyone gains allergies in Oregon.  I’m pretty confident I can dismiss that as the usual local nonsense EVERYONE says about where they live, like, “Don’t like the weather?  Wait five minutes – it’ll change!”  Maybe they don’t say that in southern California, but they say it everywhere else.  Regardless, I don’t blame Oregon for how I’ve been feeling this week.  It’s spring, trees are blooming, this is expected.

I occasionally worry that I’m taking TOO much allergy medicine, though.  (John says this is because I need something to worry about at all times.)  But seriously, year-round I take Singulair and Zyrtec.  These last few days I’ve added Flonase.  This evening I’m taking Benadryl, and tomorrow I plan to take Sudafed.  I probably won’t take all five tomorrow, but I will take four.  I’ll skip the Benadryl…oh, only until tomorrow night, so actually I will take all five tomorrow.  (I’m not actually worried about it.)

The Benadryl seems to be working.  Earlier this evening I was making a big dent in the box of kleenex, but the Benadryl has dried me up.  I’m just afraid I won’t sleep well because on top of the general misery, Benadryl doesn’t always knock me out anymore.

Boohoo and whatever.  I’ll do my best not to write about drugs and kleenex tomorrow.

Keeping a low profile

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Hi.  Sorry.  Still here, just fighting a cold or maybe allergies or whatever.  It comes and goes, but it’s enough to keep me off my computer once work is over.  Mostly.  Today, Mindy sent me a delightful Martin and Lewis video neither of us had ever seen, and the latest story arc on Agents of SHIELD is the best since they tied in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and my third library book (the vampire one) was WAY better than the two before, so I’ve been pretty well entertained the last couple of otherwise miserable days.  (Seriously – yesterday was a 3-crisis, 10-hour workday, on top of feeling crappy.  I haven’t had a work day that stressful since I took the new position last fall.  Not fun.)

Anyway, I’m going to bed with my new book and hopes of less congestion tomorrow.

Off course

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My plans for the evening have been derailed.  I rode (great lesson – more tomorrow, or at least pictures tomorrow), I came home, I started cooking dinner.  The plan was to eat early and then head out to book club.  The eating part happened.  The book club did not because, well, it depends on how you look at it.

From one angle, I’m a big baby.  My throat hurts, and it hurts to swallow, and I don’t want to be sick, and I’m cold, and I want to take a hot shower and crawl into bed and NOT GET SICK.  (And whine.  Let’s not forget the whining.)

From another angle, I’m being solicitous of my fellow book club members by staying away when I might have something they could catch.  I’m being careful of my health by resting now, early, in the hopes that it won’t get worse, and I won’t get John sick.  I’m a good person, damn it.

What I’m annoyed about, aside from the discomfort, is how fast it came on.  I guess my throat was tickling a little earlier in the day, but I felt great while I was riding, and I babbled for half an hour or more with Mom and Dad on the phone and didn’t notice any problems.  After that, WHAM.

So.  Tea for dessert, hot shower, then bed with all the blankets.  I can beat this thing.

More rescheduling is needed

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Today is our anniversary (16 years), but we’re going to postpone it for at least day.  Or maybe just extend it?  Whatever works.  We got up at 4am this morning, drove to the airport, got on flight 1 of 2 (which I slept through – yay exhaustion), had a quick layover in Minneapolis, and then got on flight 2 of 2 to Portland.  We got home around 4:30 (which felt like 7:30), then had to run back out to the store for milk so we can have tea tomorrow because neither of us is 100% yet.  Actually, I’m a total mess (although I think I feel better overall).  I look like I’m about to turn zombie.  I went to Urgent Care Tuesday afternoon because the bottom half of my left eye is solid red, and after about 30 seconds (if that), the doctor I saw announced I have pinkeye and prescribed antibiotic drops.  I’m taking them even though I’m not convinced I have pinkeye or that it’s not the viral kind, but they’re making the skin under my eye yellow like a fading bruise, so actually, I look like a zombie who’s being abused by her spouse.  This is how I traveled today.  With my glasses on, of course.  No contacts allowed right now.  I might be going back to my own doctor tomorrow.

Anyway, today isn’t a good day to celebrate our anniversary because of the zombie problem and the travel exhaustion, so we’ll try again tomorrow.  Tonight we’re having pie for dinner and watching A Royal Night Out and then sleeping until a train wakes us up.

Still hoping for a miraculous recovery

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Apparently I don’t get to feel better this trip.  My stomach has begun to make known its unhappiness with a steady diet of sinus meds and ibuprofen, but I can’t stop taking the meds or my head will explode.

I had coffee with Jess this morning (she drove up from Annapolis to say hi).  I was okay for most of that, but then I alarmed everyone at Panera when I caught my breath weirdly and raced for the bathroom so I could cough up my lung, which seemed to have put down roots in my right foot.  (There was some deep, loud, awful-sounding coughing is what I’m saying.  The walls in the bathroom shook.)  So then I came back out, all red-faced and puffy-eyed, and she took me back to the house.  Everyone was getting ready to go walk around downtown Frederick (which I’m sure looks lovely all decorated for the holidays), but I bowed out.  I’m inside, hanging out with the snoring dog, about to start snoring myself.  A nap may do me good.  (It did yesterday.  I don’t take enough naps.)

Can we postpone Christmas until I feel better?

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You know what’s not cool?

  • Being sick
  • Being sick on vacation
  • Being sick on vacation in someone else’s house
  • Being sick on vacation in someone else’s house with the sneaking suspicion that the “surprise” planned for tonight involves a night out in a big shopping area with a big Christmas tree and a stay in a hotel

This isn’t even the first time I’ve been sick on Christmas at someone else’s house and thank GOODNESS I’m not as sick this time as I was the last time.  Last time, John and I spent the morning of Christmas Eve at Urgent Care.  This time, I’m hopefully (cross your fingers) over the hump, but I’m still congested and coughing and dealing with a sore throat and taking medicine every four hours.  I’m keeping my distance from the baby and drinking ALL the water (there won’t be any water left in Maryland by the time I leave – I’m working on draining the Chesapeake Bay) and trying to be more fun than I feel.

I’m hoping for a miracle.  ‘Tis the season!

Blur

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I took an official sick day yesterday.  It started right – I had a 7am meeting, but it was only half an hour, and then I went back to bed until almost noon.  Of course, things were happening, and I ended up working a couple of hours total throughout the day.  In the afternoon, I got the oil changed in the car (desperately needed to be done), and I braved the post office to mail a package.  I rested the other hours.

I’m not very good at sick days, but we’re leaving town tomorrow, and stuff needed to get done.  I have never felt so uneasy about getting on a plane (congestion plus the additional pressure?  shudder).

Much as I want to, I am not going to sit here and complain about every symptom.  I’m better during the day, and it’s daytime now, so I’m going to focus on the things that need to get done while I’m capable of doing them.  Like…a couple of work things I can’t leave undone and PACKING.  Mostly packing.

I suppose it was inevitable

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John has been sick for several days now (a week?), and I have felt fine. I should have known my days were numbered.  Tonight I could feel a sinus headache starting and my throat feels a little scratchy and please PLEASE I don’t want to be sick.

So I took a steamy shower and I’m in bed before 8, hoping to get real sleep. Maybe I can head it off. I’m writing this on my phone because no way am I going back downstairs to get my laptop.

The rest of the horseback riding story will have to wait.

 

Improving

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Thursday I sat on the front step for 15 minutes.  Friday I put on real clothes and went to the store for essentials.  John was doing a wonderful job taking care of me, but he started to go downhill Thursday night and was heading towards misery all day Friday.  Friday was when I took over as caregiver, and I have survived!  Saturday, I attempted (successfully? Ish.) to exercise again because really – it had been over two weeks, and we can’t have that.  Then today I actually went OUTSIDE and saw OTHER PEOPLE and, best of all, RODE A HORSE.  More on that later.

So yeah, I think I’m improving, healthwise.  I’m still congested, and I’m still trying to take it easy, but it’s no longer preventing me from doing normal things.  Mostly.

Sniffles and ugh

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Summer appears to be over in the Pacific Northwest.  (Actually, the forecast says we’re going to be in the low 80s this weekend, but go with me here.)  We spent our last week of summer in Disney World, and when we got back to Portland on Friday, it was overcast and 70 degrees out.  It was chillier than that (and rainy) on Saturday, and I think the season change shocked me into a cold.  Or maybe it’s allergies.  It’s hard to tell, but either way, I spent Labor Day on the couch with a sore throat and a box of kleenex.  It looked beautiful out, but all I got was a look out the window.

I’m not feeling much better today, either, so now that I’m done with work for the day, it’s back to the couch I go.  Maybe I can rest enough to feel like a human being tomorrow.  I would like to go back outside (and enjoy it).

Oh, no. Fall is coming.

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I like fall.  It’s pretty, and the temperature’s nice.  But sometimes fall doesn’t like me back.  Today, for example, I can feel the allergy monsters approaching.  There’s been a little bit of the whole back-of-the-throat mess happening for a couple of days, and today I’m blowing my nose and sneezing a lot.  Fall is doing this to me.  Jerk.

But I feel fine!  This is just a minor annoyance.  I don’t know how accurate this is, but I always assume that if  my head is exploding (could be mild, could be extreme) but I don’t otherwise feel sick (no achiness, no fatigue*, no general blah-ness), it must be allergies.  If I actually feel bad, then I must have a cold or something.  According to me, then, this is allergies.  Which is good.  Ish.

*This past weekend’s constant complaining about how sleepy I was doesn’t count.  It was self-inflicted.  Especially on Saturday – we didn’t go to bed until 2am Friday night.  I don’t handle that well.  Just thinking about it is making me yawn.

I’ll just sit here and moan

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The holiday season sinus problems have begun.  Well, they started yesterday, but last night was bad, and this morning I just can’t breathe through my nose.  I’m not enjoying my status as a mouth-breather.  Other than that, I feel fine.  Mostly.

Hm.  Maybe I don’t feel fine.  I’m going to sit here on the couch and stare blankly at my book.  I believe we will be postponing our anniversary dinner.

The germs are winning

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It seems I have passed on my germs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t give them away.  I just shared them.  I blame my coughing cold thing on one coworker who was just getting over it on New Year’s Eve (or Jess – could have been Jess).  I went to work for a couple of hours last Tuesday morning (then came back home to rest), and Wednesday another coworker was out.  He tried to come in Thursday morning but left after an hour, and Friday morning he didn’t even try.  (He’s back today.)  Wonder who’s next.

I apologized to the kettle

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I need tea (soothing, hot, yummy) to recover from today’s edition of this week’s plague and last night’s carousing, so I put the kettle on to boil.  Then I sat down to read The Bloggess’s latest post, but the kettle started to whistle too soon, and I found myself getting irritated with the kettle because damn it, I’m not ready yet,  so just shut up with the whistling until after I finish reading about Jenny’s dead diarrhea unicorn pony.  And then I realized that Pat the Unicorn’s story isn’t going anywhere, and it would be way easier to read if the whistling stopped, and the kettle isn’t trying to irritate me, it can’t help itself, so I poured the boiling water into my mug.  I think I need a nap, but it’s too late in the day for a nap, so an early bedtime will have to do.

I’m not using my time wisely

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Huh.  I only read 44 books in 2013.  That feels like failure.  And I’m not off to a great start in 2014, either.  51 in 2012.  I must make better use of my time.  On the other hand, I can’t think of anything I’ve done lately that I’ve regretted spending the time on, so maybe my time is being spent just fine.  Stop judging me.

I’m feeling much better, in case you were wondering.  Still coughing, but not as much (more at night, like right now, so I kind of wish I didn’t have a throat, which would be weird).  Outside of the coughing, I feel mostly normal.  Yay.  I’m still drinking enormous quantities of water and tea, though.  Running to pee every 30 minutes makes it difficult to get anything done at work, but I manage.  Good thing my desk is fairly close to the bathroom.  I’d hate to have to sprint across the building every time, shoving people out of my way, papers flying – I am not a comic strip.  Or a sitcom.  I have more dignity than that.  (Or so I’d like you to think.)

A day of downtime is the best present

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Been reading a lot lately.  Well, I had a day or two where I really didn’t have to do anything else (last weekend, when I wasn’t sick).  I finished one book (The Distant Hours), started and finished another one (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the movie of which I REALLY want to see), and started a novella (Legion), all in one day.  That’s a good day.  Now that I’m back to work and my normal routine, my pace will have to slow down a bit.  I guess.  Boo.  Also, being sick doesn’t always lend itself to being able to focus on a book.  Double boo.  Also also, liquid Mucinex is really really really disgusting.

Cataloging my symptoms, just for you

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Why read my book when I could be watching Supernatural?  This is how I know I’m sick.  I’m not knocking Supernatural, but when I can’t summon the willpower to focus on a book when I have a whole day ahead of me, there must be something wrong.  And there is, in the sinus congestion, inflated head, throbbing headache behind one eye kind of way.  I took medicine, of course, so add weird loopy dryness to the list.  I can breathe freely through my nose, but my head is still congested.  And I’m having slight difficulty swallowing.  But I feel fine from the shoulders down.  Except for some mild aching….  This print is really tiny.  I’m going back to the couch and my TV.