Razor blades

I used the analogy yesterday of emerging from a long, dark tunnel, but in reality, it was more like emerging from a turbulent roller coaster ride and actually, the ride was still in progress, yesterday. By afternoon, the razor blades in my chest were getting more agitated and by nightfall, there was constant coughing, that only a cough medicine could abate. I was pleased to find a quarter bottle of Irish Moss, one that had sat unused in my pantry for a number of years. The relief was immediate and never have I relished cough medicine so much. I remember as a child the go to was a bottle of Baxters, a pink cough medicine that I loved. I remember trying the Irish Moss when I was older and liking that too, but last night’s doses were enjoyed for their immediate and soothing effect. I took my last shot during the night and was still aware of coughing in my sleep, that once again, became incorporated in my dreams, though on waking, can’t remember exactly how.

Whatever this sickness is, it’s a doozy. The cough was the last thing I expected on Saturday, for example. At that stage, it was a matter of trying to battle the nausea and stay upright. Yesterday the upright and nausea were under control, it was just the coughing. Today I would say the coughing is still there, but the constant need to cough has gone and the razor blades feel like they have dispersed. Perhaps now I really am at the end of this. I made myself a nice juice upon waking, knowing that would be injecting some much-needed vitamins into my system. The appetite is still shaky, I haven’t been on keto since I got sick, rather I am eating anything that I actually feel I can eat. Yesterday that was a piece of bacon and cheese, on toast, and a stuffed apple left over from Saturday and spaghetti on toast for the evening meal. Plans for nice sausages for tea fell over, after Stephen had them for lunch and I munched into one of these, giving me an immediate aversion to them.

We are now talking eight days since I first got sick. This illness has been unusual due to its length. Even Covid, which Stephen and I got quite a bad dose of, wasn’t nearly as bad as this. And yes, I did test for that, twice, with both readings showing negative.

But at least I am up and out of bed, I am able to sit here and write this, my coughing has abated and the nausea is only at half-mast and I do feel a thousand times better than I did last Tuesday. Life’s not so bad after all.