Sunday, 19 June 2011

Sick sick sick

I've just survived three days with a cold. Vicious head cold. Starting with the characteristic sore throat with a sanity destroying headache to follow - which meant I could not go outside - light too bright. I was medicating my throat with Jamesons (cuts the phlegm) which works pretty well but it also meant I couldn't take a sleeping pill and so suffered through the night.

I was sick enough at this stage to actually worry the cat.

Next day I was unable to hold anything down (and it wasn't the whiskey). I was chewing ice all day and munching down the coldrex like lollies. Smeagol stayed out of my way. Most of the time I couldn't see! Passed out at about 2am this morning and woke up stuck to the pillow (don't ask) about midday.

I really didn't want to get up - I could feel this huge mass in my chest and the second I moved it would have to come up. Bladder will not be ignored for long - and we cut to a commercial break.

An object moving at a constant velocity does not mean that all parts have the same velocity. If it is jelly for example. All parts at the same velocity is most of the definition of a rigid object. However, and rigid object moving about a fixed point, like a water butte, is not moving at a constant velocity - even if it maintains a constant speed. This is because it's direction is changing. So take that VW! Back to our scheduled programming.

I stumbled into the kitchen, feeling like I'd been stepped on. Sucking ice against the razor-slit throat and set about opening the house up for some fresh air.

Aside: the sucking ice bit was a trick I learned from lots of stays in hospital. If you are very delicate, try it. Ice blocks are also good but I didn't have any. Same if you have a very sick child. Basically it lets you stay hydrated and you can add stuff like honey to the water first so you can take in some nutrition too. This sort of thing is vital for shortening the duration of an illness.

For all the aches and pains, my fever had broken and the symptoms lacked that chainsawed edge that tells you the virus is still resident. Good news.

This is the point of recovery where it is essential to remove all signs of illness from your surroundings. If you are lucky enough to have someone else to look after you this will happen by itself. I live alone, so it took a while. Aired the whole place out. Ran the bath.

This afternoon I am an and out of a Lush(TM) bath. This has loosened things up nicely ... color not too good (a bit green) but I can hold stuff down. Afternoon tea is a creamy leak and potato soup... bland carbs. I'll leave it a bit before eating anything else.

This has been murder on my asthma - first time using the inhalers since last year. I hate being dependent on drugs. Apart from the tightness in my chest I'm feeling all hollowed out. It'll be bath-TV-bath-TV all evening - put B5 on back-to-back if the TV fails me (likely - it's Sunday) - and just try to survive. I may yet be desperate enough for a zopiclone - which is a kind of sleeping tablet whose active ingredient is mixed with stuff to make the experience as unpleasant as possible so I don't get addicted the bastards. Can I get a valium - oh no!

2 comments:

  1. ... or you could just have the TV in the bathroom. But then again... there's the danger of falling asleep in the bath, waking up freezing cold, and all wizened up like an old witch. Oh well, it could be worse.

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  2. News: Large Pink Prune Found in Bathtub - Blogger Missing

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