The pattern emerging isn't pretty. Apparently every winter I will experience one completely debilitating and slightly weird illness that will completely knock me out of commission for a period of time. Is this a by-product of getting old? Of having children? Or of just being completely exhausted all the time? I have not the answer. But of this I am certain: getting sick really sucks.
Three years ago I contracted the Coxsackie Virus from Mylo. Also known as hand, foot, and mouth disease, this lovely little illness leaves you with sores all over your... wait for it... hands, feet, and mouth. In my special case however, the sores appeared all over my mouth, my hands, and my face-- leaving me looking like an escapee from a leper colony for about a week. Friends and family will continually confuse your diagnosis with hoof-and-mouth disease, to which you will respond through sore-laden lips, 'no, that's different-- that's what cow's get'. From what I've read, and from those I've spoken with, Mylo had a fairly mild case in which he had sores on the back of his legs for about a week, and little else. I had a fairly horrific case.
That was followed up last year by what I affectionately call the four month cough. There's not too much explanation required since the name pretty much says it all. But by the time it was done I had gone through two rounds of antibiotics, a chest x-ray, a new doctor, and a final diagnosis of a viral infection that there wasn't a damn thing I could do about besides go home, drink tea, and rest. Thanks Doc.
Which brings me to this year's revelry. Reedu very generously passed on her strep throat to me, which morphed into an ear infection that left me feeling as though someone was trying to clean my aural canal with a screwdriver. After two rounds of antibiotics (the second of which I finish tomorrow), ear drops to numb the pain, and a host of other cold medications that bring new meaning to the concept of futility, I would truly like to believe that I'm at the tail end of this joyous little journey. However, as of the writing of this blog post, my right ear is still filled with fluid, rendering me deaf in that ear for what has become a two week sojourn. Merry Christmas.
The remedy that's suggested most often by doctor's is rest. Which happens to be the one medication I can't seem to get. So, I keep my cough drops near, my tea hot, and I look forward to Spring with baited breath.
