I am now at the stage where the remaining symptoms–occasional coughs spurred by a tickle in the throat–and the like are mostly just annoyances, so I’m going to say I am now officially recovering.
I did opt out of running today. I don’t think my lungs are quite ready yet, but soon™.
Instead of a sad bunny, I present a nonplussed cat:
My watch claims I didn’t get enough REM sleep last night, but I still feel it was the best night of rest since getting sick. I didn’t really cough or sneeze at all.
This morning I am feeling mediocre. I am slightly stuffed up, but I can take a deep breath without coughing. Yay. I may be ready to run tomorrow, a regular run day. We’ll see.
I do have a possible new complication–a sore spot in my abdomen that is subsiding as I type this, but was notable in that I could poke it, and it did not like being poked. I’ve had this before, and it’s been a bladder infection, which would be about right for just getting over being sick to have a new ailment heroically leap in and take over.
But as I said, it seems to be subsiding for now. I will monitor.
Last night, my sleep score was so-so, but I didn’t have any coughing or sneezing fits. Progress! When I got up this morning, I had a mini coughing fit (<CF), so opted to take at least one more dose of cough medicine/ I generally don’t feel bad, though perhaps a tad worn from all the previous coughing, sneezing and all that.
It is Thanksgiving today and the forecast is kind of lousy, so I think I’ll just have a mellow day and urge my body to mend as I play video games, have a nice bubble bath and eat chicken, my favourite turkey substitute.
Yesterday was a whole lot of sneezing, and the tip of my nose is now sore. I bought a box of tissue and I’m pretty sure I went through half of it. There was increased coughing and by evening, it felt like I was “drying up” and shifting more to a cough.
I woke up around 4 a.m., had a coughing fit for around 15 minutes, then stopped, which allowed me to sleep for about three more hours. The coughing started again, seemed more stubborn, so I just got up to type this. I am now coughing intermittently, but will probably go to the store this morning to buy some kind of cough remedy, because I am already sore and tired from all the coughing, and it is not yet 9 a.m.
Once I am fully recovered, I am never going outside again. I’ll rig up some VR system and experience the world in a germ-free environment, as nature should have intended.
Yesterday was all about the runny nose and sneezing. Last night was much the same, which made for a less than satisfying sleep.
Today, a new development: Coughing! Not much, but more significantly, when I cough, I can feel the congestion in my chest loosen. This is actually good, because it means the virus/bug/hellspawn/alien is moving through my system relatively quickly.
Also, I feel better sitting up and standing than when I’m laying down, so I guess I’ll rest while in the chair and not the bed.
It’s somewhat ironic that I hardly got sick during the pandemic, but seem to be on a once-per-year pace since then (which admittedly is still less than what I experienced before).
Yesterday, my throat was sore and that was both annoying and exhausting. Today the throat feels better, but the bug has moved into my nose, which alternates between runny and sneezy. It’s also in my chest already, so there’s some coughing for good measure. This seems to be faster than usual, so I’m hoping I’m feeling back to normal relatively soon.
Yep, I did indeed have that funny feeling in my throat manifest into a full-on sore throat, and expect it to spread to my sinuses and chest in due time, because it’s never just a sore throat.
I have no idea where I might have caught the virus, because I am pretty anti-people. Maybe I touched something virus-laden, then touched an eyeball or shoved all five fingers into my mouth. Anyway, bleah.
This also means I’ll have to wait to recover to get a flu shot, which scores irony points, if nothing else.
UPDATE, The next morning: Yep, I have a 100% genuine sore throat. I'd like to hope it's just a sore throat, I'll deal with it, recover and move on, but I know the reality is more likely to be:
- Virus moves into sinuses - Virus moves into chest - Virus hits hard for 3–4 days, then lingers for a week or two after
I am resigned to my fate. At least my watch gave me a rest day.
Late this afternoon, my nose and throat began feeling funny in that, “You may be coming down with something!” way, despite not going anywhere or near anyone that would presumably get me sick. Viruses are funny things. I’m hoping this is just a passing whatever, and I’ll be back to being A-OK and healthy tomorrow morning.
If not, I will update and probably post a GIF of a cat sneezing or something.
Yes, technically I lost weight this month, but considering the amount–0.3 pounds–it pretty much means the last two months have seen little movement. Some, but not a lot.
I am now down 6.3 pounds for the year, a rate of less than one pound per month, which is not weight loss so much as weight slippage.
Still, better than going up.
I did a lot of running in September and completed my 10,000+ steps every day, proving exercise is indeed not a great way to lose weight. Not snacking is!
I currently have no stores of snacks, apart from a few Tostitos multigrain chips. Once they are depleted, I will try, again, to go 100% snack-free in October and see what happens. If I still go up or don’t lose weight, I will curl my fist and shake it at the sky, possibly several times.
Stats:
January 1, 2024: 172.3 pounds Current: 166.0 pounds Year to date: Down 6.3 pounds
September 1: 166.3 pounds September 30: 166.0 pounds (down 0.3 pounds)
Body fat: September 1: 24.9% September 30: 24.9% (unchanged)
Skeletal muscle mass: September 1: 29.7% September 30: 29.7% (unchanged)
BMI: September 1: 23.8 September 30: 23.8 (unchanged)
Technically, I am down from a month ago (July 31), when I was 166.9 pounds, but I am not down from the start of this month (August 1) when I was 166.6 pounds. Instead, my devilish weight came and went over the last 31 days before returning this morning.
For August, I dipped below 166.6 five times, the lowest being 166.1 pounds. But alas, I was mostly stalled out for the month.
Was it the crackers? It was probably the crackers.
But my body fat still decreased a little, which is good, and the overall trend is still down, even if it literally slowed to a standstill for August.
I keep saying it, but this time I really will have to cut down on the snacking, I am apparently doing more than I realize. No more tubs of lard! If I snack, it will be a few pods of sugar peas or a couple of strawberries or something. No chips, no crackers, no cookies.
We’ll see how that goes.
Stats:
January 1, 2024: 172.3 pounds Current: 166.6 pounds Year to date: Down 5.7 pounds
August 1: 166.6 pounds August 31: 166.6 pounds (unchanged)
Body fat: August 1: 25.1% August 31: 24.7 (down 0.4%)
Skeletal muscle mass: August 1: 29.7% August 31: 29.8% (up 0.1%)
I was suspicious when my Garmin Forerunner declared a rest day today, as it’s normally a run day. But then I noticed the area around my right knee felt a little…tweaked. The Baker’s cyst (I really hate that word, but at least I don’t have my surname attached to it) never fully went away, but it feels a bit more fulsome right now, so it’s possible I may have aggravated it with all of my recent activity. That will teach me to exercise!
(To be fair, it’s not really hurting or anything, it just twinges a little at certain angles ‘n such.)
I’ll take it easy-ish tomorrow and see how it goes, but I’m still planning on a run on Friday.