I'm sick and tired

Two weeks ago during my Wednesday night Management class I sat next to a girl with a cold. The next morning I talked to her and she was completely hoarse. Sure enough, I caught her cold and by Saturday I was hoarse, coughing, and blowing my nose. To top things off, I started a brand new job on Monday after waiting a couple of weeks to begin. Sick as a dog, I went to work, trying to avoid contact with everyone. I prayed for a miracle cure so that I would be better on Wednesday when I went back to work. This is a part time position while I am attending school and I only go in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I sucked on throat lozenges, took tons of Vitamin C, and drank hot tea by the gallon but I didn't get any better. By Friday, I was coughing and gagging so much they sent me home. I know, I know! All this hype about H1N1, I shouldn't have even attempted to go in. But what do you do with a new job? I didn't want to lose it. And I NEED the money! And I knew by this time that the virus had moved internal- I wasn't really contagious anymore.

Off and on, I felt hot. I had green and yellow phlegm. I was coughing until I was about throwing up. I've had this before. For me, this means Bronchitis. Anyway, for Halloween weekend, I slept all weekend and, luckily, I got the only doctor appointment available on Monday. All I needed was some drugs to get better. She said I had Bronchitis and Sinusitis and prescribed me a "Z-pack". It's great! You take 2 pills on the first day and 1 each of the next four days and Voila! you're feeling better. So I called in sick on Monday and, with doctor's note in hand, I started back to work on Wednesday. Yesterday was my first real full day in two weeks. Craziness, huh!

This has been a worse case for me though. I began feeling better immediately after I started the drugs but, almost a week later, I am still coughing and full of congestion. I can almost talk normally now though. I notice that normal exposure to smoke, both wood and cigarette, affect me terribly. I feel like I can't breathe. I get short of breath easily and I feel much weaker than normal. I went for a short hike last weekend and almost coughed myself to death. I sleep a lot more than normal too. Hopefully this will all go away and I will be back to myself soon.


I'm sick and tired - song: Don't let Me Down and Down, artist: David Bowie, album: Black Tie, White Noise