Sick days

I have a bad winter cold that started the middle of last week. A lot of people have had it, or similar, and I’m not complaining. If anything, I’m fascinated by how it affects me.

I got the cold from Nigel, who had his for about a week starting the week before mine did. I know married couples are supposed to share their lives, but I could have done with a little less sharing in this case.

Colds hit me much harder than they used to. Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s different viruses—there are at least a hundred different viruses that cause the common cold, so it’s entirely possible I’m encountering ones I never did while growing up and have no defence against them. Or, maybe these viruses are just stronger. Or, maybe it’s just age, after all.

In any case, the first thing that hits is fatigue. That started the middle of last week, and I tried to relax in case I was just over-tired. The next day, Thursday, I was too tired to do much of anything and I even napped, something I almost never do on a weekday.

On Friday, I tried mightily to get a few chores done, but it was very hard going. Again, I spent most of the day resting.

We were supposed to take the dogs and go to Hamilton to celebrate Nigel’s Mum’s birthday, but by Saturday morning it was clear to me I was too sick to go. The family (including me) joked about how I must be sick if I didn’t go to a family party, and that’s actually true: I really enjoy them, and the only things that would make me miss one is if I’m away, if I have something I can’t get out of (like work…), or if I’m too sick.

So, Nigel went by himself and the dogs stayed with me (a small consolation prize). I spent the day watching TV in my comfy chair. Later that night, I went to bed and watched TV for awhile.

I spent all day Sunday in bed, mostly playing games on my iPad because it’s all I could concentrate on. Lack of concentration/focus is what annoys me the most about these colds.

I didn’t blog over the past couple days because I simply couldn’t focus enough. The post I published on Friday I’d sketched out when I was more—what’s the word?—lucid, maybe. That was lucky. But I have another I could have finished reasonably easily, except I also lacked any energy, which is the other thing that most annoys me about these colds.

Of course the physical symptoms make me feel miserable, but if I could at least concentrate enough to read, or maybe write a blog post or whatever, it wouldn’t be as bad. As it is, all I can do is rest—I can’t even talk properly.

I talked about all this as being annoying because that’s all it is. I’m keenly aware that in a few days it’ll be as if I never had a cold, and I’ll forget all about this until the next cold settles in. It’s merely annoying because it’ll go away.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people who are fighting chronic or serious diseases (some of whom I know in real life), and some of those people won’t win their fight. Compared to them, it’s as if there’s nothing wrong me. That’s why I won’t complain—what, really, do I have to complain about?

And yet, I do feel miserable, and this cold keeps me from being able to read or write much, or even talk. It’s annoying, and that makes me grumpy. So I rest, take my paracetamol (called acetaminophen in the USA) and wait for the cold to pass, because I know it will.

All things considered, I’m lucky.