I wasn't feeling particularly healthy last week. On Thursday midday it struck me down and I didn't even log on to work on Friday. By Saturday I was feeling well enough to go with the gang to one member's trailer about half-way between here and Fredericton. However, the day was scheduled for showers and we wound up playing DnD under an awning on his porch for most of the day.
While we had one of our best sessions to-date, the cold and the damp got to me even though I wore my rain jacket and tried to stay out of the wet. Sunday I was sick and it just kept getting worse.
This week, one of my last before my contract ends, I have only worked two days out of five due to illness. Monday and Wednesday were horrible days. Tuesday I managed to put pretty much a full day in, although I still wasn't feeling very good. Thursday I started out feeling much improved, and got a couple of minor errands done in the morning, worked for the late morning and afternoon, and then M and I put together our new wheelbarrow and reviewed our options for the grill.
Putting together the grill completely wiped me out. I was sweating and exhausted when we finished, which I shouldn't and wouldn't have been had I not been so sick. It was not very stressful or taxing work, and with M's help should have been a breeze.
Later that evening, after the fog rolled in, M's dad showed up with his trailer filled with the other 1.5 cord of wood; we haven't managed to get the first 1.5 into the house as it has been raining for about a week straight. Standing out talking with Alex in the cold, damp fog seemed to do me entirely in.
When we settled in for the night, the coughing began again in earnest. My throat was burning, and the damned hot/cold flashes were back with gusto. That evening, after heading to bed, I got that familiar feeling in my lower intestines and dashed for the bathroom... a total of three times.
My coughing during the night got so bad that I woke both of us up and M went and got me cough drops to ease it enough we could both go back to sleep.
I've slept today, stayed under the covers (except for during hot flashes) while I watched a movie, and generally not done a hell of a lot. If I move too quickly or speak for more than a couple of words, the coughing returns and it is so violent it makes me feel like throwing up or hurts the hell out of my throat.
We had planned to head down to Calais tomorrow for a package my mother sent, but I think I'll be staying home. I also want to take my bike into Alternatives to get the gears fixed so I can ride it (and to look at grills while we're there), but I don't think that will be happening unless I improve a lot between now and tomorrow.
The lesson learned is that I need to stay out of the cold, damp air. I also need to ease myself back into full action instead of jumping in and further weakening my system.
For now, I think I foresee a lot of hot cocoa and cough drops, a few movies, and maybe a hot bath. And M won't have to put up with my talking very much for the next few days.
It is so easy to develop pneumonia that you might want to keep that in mind as your symptoms don't sound like a cold, but something a bit more intense. I had 2 students last semester with colds that lasted for what seemed like a long time -- and symptoms that included the "hot flashes" you describe. They both finally sought medical help and were diagnosed with walking pneumonia, which is treatable. Meanwhile, they had run themselves so far down that it took much longer to recouperate than it may have had they sought a doctor's help earlier in the "I don't feel so hot" phase.
ReplyDeleteMoms do worry, you know.
Well, I will be out for a while this evening, so you won't need to talk to me then. Maybe when I get home we can chat on IM instead, like the good old days? ;) I just hope this passes soon. Next time there is gaming outside and the forecast says rain, you know to cancel or move to another venue.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the BBQ rust dust. That was what really seemed to set off your coughing.