Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." Genesis 9:13

Friday, November 12, 2010

whew

I am exhausted.  I have just returned to bed after 8 hours away.  And I did things in those 8 hours:  carried in the contents of my turnk, got mail, drove through the pharmacy, finally realized that what sounded best in all the world was a slushy and when I got that the girl didn't wipe off the drips so I got covered in grape slushy.  Then I drove to work, did stuff for an hour, drove to my moms, cleaned part of the car, boxed some Christmas gifts, ate dinner, cleaned the car, drove home, brought in more stuff, threw in some laundry, drank tea, and am trying to stay awake long enough to flip over laundry again.  I can't believe how tired I am.

Oh, and when I talked to my mother about the COBRA thing mentioned in the last post she got all pushy about couldn't I go to the City today and get my meds?  Well, it's kinda of 70 miles north of here and I was going 70 miles south of here....so not so much.

Tomorrow is going to be insane.  I have to go to 2 stores, do the paperwork for my car, and see Dr. Brain.  I'm hoping to do all this and be home by 5.  That lets me finish packing and get to bed pretty early.  Then Sunday morning I have to give my cat his shot to stay calm for the trip, load the new car, and drive to Camp Jen.

I'm officially showing signs of moving into the 3rd stage of whooping cough, "convalescence".  It's the longggggggggg stage, and during this time I'll still cough very easily.  I hate scarves and don't own one (yet) so I wound up having to wear a mask driving today because I couldn't have air circulating without choking.  But as this stage develops it's suddenly understandable how my ugly raw throat hasn't hurt much or how I have been unable to cough anything up to help me breathe; according to what I've read the crud thins some around now and from what I've seen if this is thin I must have had concrete in my system previously.  As I understand it the sore throat etc. will be around for a while because the disease damages all the cilia in the throat (the little hairs that move stuff around) and until that re-grows things stay irritated.  Apparently every cold in the new few months will bring back the cough of doom, although at least not the real illness.

Convalescent or not I'm just about to fall asleep so this laundry either hurries or gets changed first thing in the morning and I deal with not having a clean shirt to wear then.

4 comments:

Michal Ann said...

Wow! That's not a "sick day!" You went full out...you've earned that fatigue!

Have you heard of Fenugreek tea for an expectorant? Friends suggested I try it for my recent crud. It's kind of bitter especially if you don't use enough honey but you might find it helpful. I'm so thrilled if you're already starting to recover but try to take it a bit easier if you possibly can! The "cough of doom" has to be the worst!!

Just Me said...

I did read about the fenugreek somewhere. I can't take anything herbal (or really anything period) with approval from my doctors because with the MAOI (and lithium to a lesser extent that is bigger with me than average because of my history of toxicity and the kidney problems I have) there is a high risk for interactions. Interactions with MAOIs can be fatal. So in a lot of cases with herbals they won't know and will never suggest a risk.

Also, interestingly, expectorants are not recommended with whooping cough. I think they simply don't work as the mucus doesn't break up until it's ready and increasing the coughing can lead to major health problems--when you cough for several minutes straight you start losing consciousness, peeing yourself, gasping for air, etc. and people who are more unfortunate than I am (keep in mind as sick as I've been this is still somewhat mild for someone without any immunity; if you've had shots and get it you won't be as sick I have been but I've been blessed with many years of holding in coughing while with patients so that I can hold coughs off) might really have trouble breathing if the cough is increased. I would have preferred death over more coughing the first 3 days. Of course they also don't really recommend either nebulizers (which my doctor suggested initially but I can't have because steroids make me manic) or cough suppressants, but I was given those and have made hefty use of them. In fact I'm feeling better now because a dose of it is in me. Still quite ready for bed, but not as awful as I did a bit ago.

WinnyNinny PooPoo said...

Hope you recover some after such a busy day!!!

Michal Ann said...

Glad you know all about the cough...and avoiding expectorants under the circumstances! Yeah, the tea increased my coughing at first simply because it was loosening the junk. My sister and her husband had whooping cough some years back and it's apparently become increasingly common. I've even heard ads about it and the extreme danger it poses to young babies. I know you're very aware...