Feeling yucky

Nigel woke up in the wee small hours this morning, and didn’t go immediately back to sleep. That happens to us all of course, especially in the first 24 hours since the clocks changed. He lay there and listened to the birds singing. He thought they were up a bit early, and wondered what kind they were. Then, he realised: It wasn’t birds, it was my wheezy breathing.

Just the latest chapter in the Terrible, Awful Cold: 2015 Edition.

I can appreciate the humour in this current affliction, probably precisely because it’s not serious: In a few more days, I’ll recover. But getting sick does make me able to imagine how awful it would be to be unwell for weeks, months, or years. I’m also keenly aware that I have a condition for which recovery is assured, and I’m grateful that it’s not something without such assurance—or worse.

But none of that actually makes me feel any better, of course: It just makes it somewhat easier to endure. Being sick, however short the duration or light the seriousness, is never any fun.

Nigel gifted this Terrible, Awful Cold to me. His started the previous weekend, hit its peak toward midweek, and now, a week on, he’s well on the road to full recovery. My version began, really, on Thursday last week when I got up in the morning, felt movement in my sinuses, and realised that couldn't be a good sign.

Friday and Saturday were bad, with the usual cold symptoms: Lots of sneezing and running eyes and nose, along with a “hot” feeling and extreme fatigue. Those symptoms eased yesterday, apart from the fatigue. I actually felt the worst yesterday, and it was the first day of the affliction where I had an afternoon nap (on top of ten hours sleep at night).

And now today: Better than yesterday, but nowhere near full recovery. If my affliction follows the same arc as when Nigel had it, then tomorrow I should feel quite a bit better. Here’s hoping.

When I first moved to New Zealand, I got several colds over the first couple years. I thought that maybe that was because I was encountering new strains of the cold virus, and maybe I was. Up until that time, I seldom got colds, and when I did, they didn’t last long. After those first couple years in New Zealand, that pattern mostly returned.

However, I’ve noticed that nowadays when I get a cold, it seems much worse than when I was younger. I don’t know if they actually are worse, but perception is reality in this case.

This, too, will pass, and I’ll be better soon. I know that, and it does help. But it sure doesn’t make me feel any less yucky.