Well Enough to Write about It

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Due to one horrendous head cold, the new year did not start for me until Epiphany (January 6). It all began with a bit of chest congestion, resulting in discrete coughs at the New Year’s Eve party. It fooled nobody.

My head filled up with fluid, which I do not have to describe. You’ve all been there. Eyeballs seemed twice their usual size and squeezed out tears that ran down my face. That pressure, of course, caused the brain to go totally stupid for days on end. The periods of waking were scattered throughout daylight and darkness. Explosive sneezes, properly focused, could have tunneled through a North Carolina mountain. Amplified coughs would have made an excellent fog horn on the coast. My lungs produced sounds like an out-of-tune calliope. I could have played a very sad tune with them.

John was smart. (Say in a posh English accent), “He went to his club for the duration.” The train club in Tennessee was already on the calendar, but he was fortunate to miss the worst of my debilitation.

There was measurable progress when I moved the tissue box from my lap and would venture five feet away from it. The brain was what I missed most. It finally went from the speed of stupid to merely “slow”. When I considered myself almost well, I lost cream cheese I took out of the refrigerator. I left Greek yogurt in the laundry room, rescued by John.

Grandson David did what he could to help, but he was working most of the time. It was son John $pencer who took care of me and kept the household running during the worst of this monster cold. He cooked for himself and David, and he kept the kitchen clean. Marvelous! I have only one photo to show for it. $ made himself and me a breakfast burrito that was hearty, attractive, and good for us. He knew I couldn’t taste it at all, but it did clear my sinuses for a while!

I lost a week, but that’s not all I lost! I now weigh less than at the beginning of Fat Season (Thanksgiving through January 1). Don’t get excited; it was ounces, not pounds. Considering I usually gain five pounds in that period, I’m way (weigh) ahead of the game this year.

The day I figured I would survive, I saw a lovely bow in the sky. There was neither rain nor snow where I was standing, but the sun shone on clouds to make a rainbow or snowbow.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

60 thoughts on “Well Enough to Write about It”

  1. How wonderful that the rainbow signaled your return to good health. Sorry you had a miserable week, but it’s nice that you had such good caretakers. Breakfast burritos are excellent for a head cold!

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  2. I´m so pleased you are feeling better. How great you had your son there to look after you and ensure you had a nice breakfast burrito. Rake it easy though because it takes a while to get your strength back. xo

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  4. Glad you are on the mend, head colds are awful and seem to hang on forever! God to see you are well enough to write! Nice rain/snow bow, and what a nice kid to take care of you! If I get sick, my three sons wouldn’t have a clue. Thank God for my hubby Dave!

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    1. While I was ill, the only way to look while being flat on the bed was up!!! Thank heavens I’m back among the land of the living! I’m grateful my family let me be ill while I recovered. Some folks can’t help prodding you to make you instantly well. I needed time to wallow.

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  9. John $ has done a good job of looking after you, I’m grateful.. Has his lady friend returned to be with him yet? I’m sorry you’ve been feeling so bad but the Snowbow promises a return to full health.,it sounds like you’ve made a good start. Have a Happy New Year as soon as this is over,
    Massive Hugs xxxxxxx

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    1. Poor Rose, $’s love, spent time with her family after Christmas, and they all came down with colds. She is beginning to feel better and may came back this weekend. We have all missed her greatly.

      xxx Unsneezing Hugs xxx

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  11. I’m so sorry you had this partially over the holidays. It’s not fun at any time but especially not then. Welcome back to the land of the living! (and that breakfast burrito looked pretty good!)

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    1. I’m grateful that I enjoyed the parties of the last few weeks, and it didn’t really matter that I was ill for the past week. Talk about a convenient illness!! $ says he’ll make us breakfast burritos tomorrow or the next day. I’m getting my recovered taste buds ready.

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  13. I feel your pain. But… I’m jealous… no matter how sick I get or for how long or how little I eat in the interim, I WILL ALWAYS GAIN WEIGHT!!! And, as miserable as I was during my flu bout which I got after Thanksgiving and how congested, achy and miserable I was I gained. Grrrrr! Glad you’re better. Sorry I didn’t have a chance to miss you much. Let’s hope the worst is over and this year will be amazing.

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  19. The thing I dislike the most about an illness at our age is how long it takes to get any pep back after the actual bug mostly departs. As kids I bounced right back, as do my grandkids. Me–it takes about a month to feel myself after a bad bug. May you be fully restored.

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    1. I did so well yesterday, putting a nice meal on the table and getting things done. This morning I heard rain when the alarm went off and turned over. Didn’t wake up again for four HOURS! Maybe I’ll be well every other day.

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  21. You get an “A” for the description of this monster cold – had you written it during the worst part, we’d have been Fed Exing you chicken soup to help you get better, or at least drown your sorrows in that yellow broth. John $ did well and cleared out your sinuses to boot.
    Hope you are 100% again.

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      1. Before I had my tonsils out the second time, I was constantly getting colds. It seemed I lived on “Contact” cold capsules and was in a haze at the worst of the cold. I went to the doctor to check out if I had mono and was run down or something was wrong like low white blood count … everything was A-OK … the GP did not see the return of the tonsil as it was too small. Thank goodness it was finally discovered or I’d still be miserable. It sometimes takes a good two weeks to feel normal again. We have some snow this morning and very slick out there – not sure if it is going to take a broom or shovel – sigh. Winter is back for today, 51 on Friday, then 3-5 inches (maybe) this weekend.

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          1. Thank you Anne. I will take your sympathy in dribs and drabs all Winter. I was just chatting with Ruth Soaper about the weather. She also lives in Michigan, but a different county. The weather folks did not predict the freezing rain and we both went out this morning to discover ice beneath the newly fallen snow and very slippery, even treacherous.

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  22. Anne, I’m so sorry you’ve been so ill … it sounds horrendous and it’s miserable and so exhausting. The rainbow heralding your improvement is magical and I hope your lungs are now nice and quiet, all healed. My son was sick with severe tonsillitis over Christmas so we had to change big holiday plans and I’m just now recovering from bronchitis. Here in England I blame the unseasonably warm weather! Bring on Spring! Take care xx

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    1. The weather is fair game. I blame my getting too tired, lowering my immunity. I tried to keep up with everything. Pleasure in reading and writing did me in. I hope you will soon feel on top of the world.

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  25. I’m so happy you are on the mend. My aunt was visiting my mom last week, but she had that too (complete with terrible lingering cough), so I wasn’t able to see her much as I couldn’t risk getting sick in my current state. That would be so painful!

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    1. We did chase waterfalls today! I was sidelined by a stream across the trail, but grandson David went on to the falls. John sat on a boulder with me, and David back some lovely photos for us. I came home and took a nap.

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  28. Thank goodness the rainbow signalled your return to good health, Anne. The cold sounds truly terrible. We had one similar the Christmas before last and were housebound for three boring weeks. Like you say, it’s impossible to think straight, so you can’t even while away the time doing anything remotely productive. Glad to hear you are on the mend and the family are looking after you well. Karen x

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