sick

One head cold, two lists

Two lists after the sudden and unwelcome arrival of a head cold four days ago.

List 1:
Things I have missed since getting a head cold

  • two runs
  • one writing group
  • my daily activity goal as per the Apple Watch (four days so far)
  • work (on-site)
  • going outside (two days)

List 2:
Things I have achieved since getting a head cold

  • sneezing
  • runny nose
  • stuffed sinuses (goes great with #2)
  • headache
  • mild fever
  • coughing
  • sore throat
  • sleeplessness (one night, see immediate item above for explanation)
  • conversely, plenty of napping during the day
  • weird dreams
  • possible addiction to NyQuil (not really, but it has probably saved my sleep 3 of 4 nights)
  • work (a little that I could do from home on the fourth day)

This one bugs me because it just seems so random and out of the blue. Friday I was fine, Friday night I was sick. Weekend shot, missed work, behind on everything again, going in when still not 100%, missing runs after finally getting back into a regular routine. Why haven’t we cured the common cold, anyway?

Sarcasm

From Merriam-Webster, the definition of sarcasm:

Definition of sarcasm

  1. a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain

  2. a) a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual
    b) the use or language of sarcasm

When I was younger I employed sarcasm so regularly it was entitled to full benefits and vacation pay. Thinking it over, I haven’t really reduced my usage of sarcasm, I just have fewer opportunities to wield it. For example, I’m wise enough to know that sarcasm is often not the best tactic in the workplace (co-workers do not seem to share this trepidation based on the regular barbs that go a-flying).

Looking at that first definition, though? Designed to cut or give pain? Ouch. Literally. When I employ sarcasm, it’s certainly meant for effect, chiefly to skewer the target of said sarcasm. In that sense, it can be said to be intended to cut. Give pain? Not so much. I’m not a sadist, not even a linguistic one. When I use words as weapons I’m more like a mug swinging a club I can only manage to lift, rather than a skilled fencer darting to and fro, stabbing at will.

The second definition, though, that’s entirely me. When I prick a finger and draw blood I’m fairly certain a little sarcasm leaks out. I don’t always target individuals, though, preferring to broaden my targets to entire institutions or groups.

What brought on this bit of self-reflection was a perusal of some of the posts on this blog, specifically my writing prompts (the ones I create, not the ones I tackle) and how they are uniformly sarcastic. Why is that? Am I secretly afraid of producing mediocre prompts and so write ones that aren’t intended to be taken seriously? Is it a reaction to so many writing prompt collections being silly while trying to be serious? More the latter, I think.

Coming up with a few decent prompts is pretty easy. Coming up with a dozen? Trickier. Coming up with hundreds, especially hundreds that aren’t spewed out by an automated process? It is difficult, so bless those brave souls that try, even as I mock their efforts. I don’t mean to be cruel and fully open myself to similar mockery with the hundreds of nonsensical posts I’ve written here.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I blame my head cold and the obligation to write. I’d rather be sleeping and don’t look forward to staggering into work tomorrow, still feeling unwell and having to battle stuffed-up sinuses, caustic co-workers, and other stuff, all of which could be solved through the simple expediency of winning the lottery.

Time for bed and NyQuil-fueled dreams. The best dreams.

Writing group week 8: Postponed due to illness

Strictly speaking, the weekly write-in wasn’t postponed, only my participation was.

Friday: I felt that weird little twinge in my sinuses and throat that said, “You may be catching a cold!”

Saturday: The twinges became manifest. I officially have a cold, but it’s not too bad. Some NeoCitran helps me feel better. I still plan on going to the writing group.

Sunday: Nose is very irritated. Sneezing develops. Generally feel blah and listless. Decide not to inflict my potentially contagious self on the others attending the write-in. On a day when it reaches 9ºC and snow is a literal impossibility, I also do not run.

I eat toast and jam instead. It leaves me unfulfilled because my nose still hurts.

Now I’m having tea, which will temporarily soothe but also lead to me getting up multiple times to use the bathroom because that stuff goes through me like nobody’s business.

Also today, I started reading an article linked on Medium that lists 50 ways to make yourself better and gave up after realizing the list is a few common sense items wedged in-between a bunch of unsubstantiated nonsense, like “have faith” or “create an automated source of income.” The author also keeps citing the wealthy as inspiration, overlooking the fact that wealthy people are among the worst people on this planet. He cites Peter Thiel, for the love of…Pete. His advice boils down to “Be white, male, super-rich and you’ll do just fine!”

My two best friends at year’s end, NyQuil and NeoCitran

A dismal year is nearly over but there’s still time for more celebrity deaths to pile up like cord wood. In the past week alone George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds have all died. The deaths have happened so often that I am nearly expecting to find a celebrity death story every time I visit the CBC News website (just checked–none so far today).

For myself, I am happy to still be kicking, even if the winter break from work has been marred by a sore back the first week and a cold the second week (which I am still fighting). NeoCitran and NyQuil have been my best pals, one offering comfort by day, the other by night. I hate that I am taking them, but have to admit modern medicine is pretty spiffy in masking how horrible you might otherwise feel.

I even went for a walk today. Most of the sidewalks are bare, but there’s still copious snow around. It’s been weeks and it is silly. They are forecasting a return to sub-freezing temperatures in the week ahead, with more snow still on tap for tomorrow, New Year’s Eve. Because nothing says a safe night out like driving on New Year’s Eve in a snowstorm.

I’m staying home and hiding under the covers.

If all goes well I may at least be healthy enough to go to the pool by the end of the week. I’m penciling in a run outside sometime for early spring when the last of the snow has finally melted.

I can’t smell (but my throat feels better)

I am officially on Day 4 of Being Sick and two-thirds through the holiday weekend. Today I feel much like the stuffed turkeys that will be consumed tomorrow.

What started as a slight scratchiness on Thursday evolved into “Why is there a tiny chainsaw constantly running in my throat?” by the evening. Blessedly, that diminished by late Friday. Taking its place was a general feeling of being run down, as well as increasing  congestion in my sinuses. That appears to be peaking tonight as my nose has been plugged up all day and I can’t smell anything right now. I am sitting here with a nice cup of Chai tea and I gave the teabag a good sniff before dropping it in the cup. Nothing. Not even the slightest bit of aroma. Drinking it I can detect something but it’s weird to have a sense just switch off like that.

I’ve been imbibing Nyquil in the evening and so far it’s been pretty effective in helping me sleep, just like the TV commercials say.

I’m up later tonight as well, so perhaps I am on the odorless mend now. However, if the usual pattern holds true, the cold will next visit my chest, to be followed by days of racking coughs (i am coughing as I type this, somewhat politely, but with a feeling of doom hanging over me that the polite coughs will give way to the “blow paper off the desk” coughing soon enough).

All in all, being sick still sucks, which is hardly a revolutionary thought. It’s resulted in me going to bed early, I’ve missed two runs (the idea of running is so off-putting right now I can’t even articulate it. I’d probably get a few hundred meters in, collapse and be eaten by a bear/bobcat/python) and I’ve tried to compensate for my general state of misery through eating. Even that simple pleasure has been diminished now that I can barely taste or smell anything. So yes, sucks.

By coincidence the next stat holiday, Remembrance Day, falls on a Friday, making it another three-day weekend. I would like to make a request to not be sick that weekend. Thanks in advance, arbitrary forces of nature!

Run with the noses

This most recent virus/hellcold has been especially annoying.

It first took hold a few weeks ago and I was suitably ill and knocked out of commission for a few days. Breathing became a chore rather than something that just kind of happens without a lot of thought needed. After a week or so I got better.

Then last weekend I started to feel the hellcold trying to get hold of me again. I firmly told it, “No, go and bother someone else, some jerk or something.” And it seemed to work, as the rest of the week I again returned to a state of normalcy.

Until today. It is now making attempt #3. The primary victim again is my nose, which ran like an Olympic marathoner on the commute home from work. This is not pretty when you have no tissue on your person. Tonight, anticipating another round of Nose Acts Like a Dam, I have taken a decongestant and am drinking some nice hot tea. I have approximately 50 hours of meetings tomorrow so I am hoping that my body will be generous and kick hellcold to the curb again. It has my blessing to do so for the remainder of the year, in fact.

Other than that, I was also tired and it rained. I will not be writing poetry about this day. Actually, I write terrible poetry, so it may be appropriate to do so. But I’m going to bed instead. I’ll dream of terrible poetry, where no one gets hurt by it.

Sick: Groundhog Day edition

You may remember I spent several days kvetching recently about a cold/virus that resulted in me missing a couple of days of work and spending half the weekend feeling the same level of ambition as a rock.

Yesterday that same cold/virus came back.

It seems to be doing more of a slow burn this time, so while I feel generally unwell I am still at least somewhat functional. The other good news (?) is I still have a store of medicine to dip into, as I did not exhaust the supply I had procured a few weeks back.

Still, this is annoying. January has kind of sucked. Good riddance to it, I say. Stupid month.

 

Sick of talking about being sick? Nope!

Today I returned to work, though it’s safe to say that I am not exactly 100% yet. I felt like I was spreading my illness every time I touched something. And really, I probably was. Apologies to everyone I may have gotten sick through all of my egregious touching. That sounds dirty and in the germ sense it totally is.

Last night I opted to forgo another ftom-behind-the-counter decongestant tablet in favor of the more all-encompassing solution of Nyquil Complete. Unfortunately the decongestant part kind of stopped working around 3 a.m. This meant about three hours of mostly not sleeping, combined with more mouth breathing and yucky dry mouth. I had the foresight to go to bed extra early so it could have been worse.

The day was characterized by intermittent coughing, general tiredness and everything continuing to taste like cardboard.

On a scale of one to ten coughed-up lungs, I rate today six coughed-up lungs. It could have been worse but boy howdy, it could have been better, too.

I promise the next blog post will not be about my sinuses, mouth or any other part of my body or its current condition.

Day 3 of The Best (Worst) Head Cold Ever

Last night started with me experiencing the chills, not out of fright, but due to my stupid cold/flu/germs from outer space/whatever it is. That didn’t last, though, as by midway through the night I was hot and sweaty instead. Oh, and my nose was so stuffed up I couldn’t breathe. Or sleep. Not sleeping when sick is not a good way to speed recovery.

I managed to catch an hour or so of uninterrupted sleep around 7 a.m. when I finally dozed off, likely from exhaustion. When I awoke I discovered that I’d been breathing through my mouth (the only handy breathing orifice), said mouth was parched and my lips were almost chapped from. They still feel funny this evening.

I went to ye local drug store and got a not-over-the-counter decongestant. While it hasn’t completely unplugged my sinuses, it’s partially done so and more importantly, they are staying partially unplugged when I lay down, meaning I should be able to sleep tonight without being a mouth breather and get actual rest.

To balance this positive news, I am now coughing and sneezing a lot more.

I am not a fan of this head cold. No sir, not a fan at all.

Sick and tired

Which is to say I am sick (appears to be a cold, freshly baked for the weekend) and tired (due to aforementioned cold).

In fact, I don’t even have the energy to find a cat image to post. But pretend one is just below this text.

The post-flu turkey day run

Average pace: 4:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 11.45 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 18-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 777
Total distance to date: 1940 km

It is fitting that today is Thanksgiving because I ran a bit like a turkey. And when I got home from the run (and Jeff from a day of dirt biking) we were both too tired to cook anything except a big frozen chicken lasagna. So technically we did have some bird, anyway.

Two days ago I was just coming out of 17 hours in bed after being struck Friday evening by one of those flu bugs that drops on you like a piano. I had chills (no thrills), no appetite, no energy and no desire to do anything but lay there, still and sweaty (despite the chills). By the end of Saturday I was feeling human again, yesterday I felt mostly normal so today I went on my run as I had planned.

I started out a bit slower than I have of late at 4:35/km then dropped an impressive 5% for the next km, something I’d repeat two more times during the run. By the 7 km mark I was coasting on fumes and save for a blip of energy in the latter half of the 10K stretch, muddled through to the end and a sluggish pace of 4:53/km, a full 20 seconds off last Tuesday’s run (which was admittedly a record-setter for me).

On the plus side, I did complete the run and I had a rare mid-run spike when another runner caught up from behind. She appeared to my left and a few paces back and this immediately kicked in my competitive side. I found a reserve of energy and slightly picked up the pace. She was not deterred. As we raced neck and neck along the Cottonwood Trail she eventually pulled beside me and said, “I like the pace you’re keeping!” We ran together to the bridge at Still Creek, where she cut left (the short way) and I went straight (the less short way). This gave her the official lead and I was out of gas. About a km later she turned a corner and was out of sight for good. I felt good for keeping up as long as I did and bad because I simply lacked the stamina today to keep keeping up.

Wednesday’s run should be both faster and slightly cooler. Our freakish summer weather is continuing but it looks to be closer to seasonal by mid-week with actual normal weather (cool, damp) possible by the end of the week.

Date Average Pace
October 8 4:53 (11K)
October 2 4:33 (9K)