If I Cough, Even One More Time…

My lungs will shatter.

I caught the cold that’s been going around. (Isn’t it always going around?) Last week, in preparation for our camping trip, I felt the scratchiness starting in my throat, and the next morning I woke and could barely swallow. I quickly tried to remedy the situation with heavy doses of Emergen C(The Orange flavor is the best.) and lots of rest.

While camping, I woke up one morning and attempted to say “Good morning” to my husband but nothing came out. (For someone who likes to talk a lot, this was pretty scary.) He kindly went and grabbed more Emergen-C, and I gulped it down as fast as possible. (This is a trade off while camping. Stay sick? Or, drink lots of water and know that a squat session will soon be needed.)

Luckily, I stayed as healthy as humanly possible while camping. (Seriously, Emergen-C is amazing. I felt like a super-hero.) But, once I got home and stopped taking Emergen-C, my lungs felt like they got hit full-force by a speeding train. I began coughing, and I couldn’t stop.

I attempted to return to work, but had to leave half-day on Monday. There are only so many stares that say: ‘You have PTO, and you’re filthy, contagious germs are here? Don’t get me sick!’ that you can take…

So, I slept. I don’t think I’ve slept so much in 1 week. I’ve even fallen asleep before 11:00 every night this week. (Except for tonight.)

I’ve used the humidifier, Vapor Rub, a knock-off version of Nyquil, and then a prescription cough syrup (the orange kind), lots of cough drops, water, and orange juice. And yet, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night (usually around 4:45 am) from a beating cough that wouldn’t stop. The first session lasted 30 minutes. (I then retired to the floor in the extra bedroom, so I wouldn’t bug Jeffrey. Although very thoughtful of me, not the best decision: I still couldn’t sleep. The floor is very uncomfortable.)

The next 2 nights, I woke up to another thrashing in my chest that lasted 45 minutes. Ouch.

The worst part of being sick is being in a public quiet spot. (Usually a meeting, church, or movie.) Because you know when you start coughing, and can’t stop, everyone notices.

I even tried the stop-coughing-tricks: Start yawning when the tickle of the cough starts. Drink lots of water to subside the tickle. Pop one cough drop after another into the mouth to stop the coughing. Begin stretching when the tickle starts. Or, just keep your mouth shut to try and keep it from coming out. But, it usually doesn’t work. Those coughs are coming one way or another. Then, your face gets bright red, coughs keep dripping out, and all self control is lost.

Nothing’s worse.

The only upside? My abs are getting a killer workout.

Hopefully you won't catch what I have by reading this. It's not fun.