When to Declare Yourself Cured

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

I discovered that declaring yourself free of a bad cold is not as easy as it sounds. What do you do with the lingering cough and constant need of tissues? Craving extra sleep at night AND a nap in the afternoon are not indicators that all is well. I couldn’t answer the question, “Why am I able to taste food only every other day?” Senses that come and go made no sense. Tasteless comments about food were becoming old.

I’m here to tell you that, after much home research, I now have the answer. Well, it works for me. The definitive test involves a vaporizing rub. Your brand might be Vick’s, but mine is a miser’s knockoff. Take the cap off, get your nose as close as possible without infecting the contents, and take a deep sniff. If you can smell it, you are good to go. I still cannot smell it; therefore, I am not cured. The active ingredients are Camphor, Eucalyptus Oil, and Menthol. If you cannot register any of those odoriferous ingredients, you should not be mingling with other human beings. Unfortunately, my family is stuck with me, and they have nowhere else to go.

Before I discovered this over-the-cold test, I went out with John and grandson David, hunting a waterfall. We drove to the other side of Asheville to Old Fort to see Catawba Falls. The parking lot was upgraded only a year or so ago, and the trail is now open to the public. The walk was easy until we came to a major stream across the path. People were taking two routes – one involved a huge step and scooting on one’s bum across a slanted boulder before walking on fallen trees. The other route involved good balance, where you needed to leap nimbly across rounded stones that were not very close together. John told David to go on, that he would stay with me while David explored. Despite being there for a long time, I took only one photo to show my watery stopping place. The trail shows in the upper part of the picture. The logs people walked on are on the right, and the leaping stones are across the middle. Just on the other side of those stones was a cascade where the water fell several feet. On a summer day one might risk stepping in water up to the ankle, but I deemed it too cold to risk having wet feet for an hour or so.

Stream across the trail

I picked one photo to keep from David’s collection showing Catawba Falls. It was lovely, and I’m sure it had a wonderful sound in person. I’m content with having heard a video of it on line.

Catawba Falls

Being not cured of a cold, I overrode David’s request to go to a German restaurant in Black Mountain. I wouldn’t have been able to taste the food. We went to “FRESH – Wood-fired Pizza” that son John $pencer and Rose took me to for a birthday present. With the generous help of red pepper flakes, I was guaranteed to taste the pizza. Now back to serious, recuperative naps.

Published by Anne Mehrling

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

Published

43 thoughts on “When to Declare Yourself Cured”

  1. Declaring you are well just doesn’t do it! I can tell if I’m better because being at home gets on my nerves and I need to get out. When I’m sick that doesn’t happen at all. Hope you can enjoy food soon. That is just sad!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. You must kip till cured. Do not allow yourself outside visits until you’ve kipped yourself out if it. You’ll know you’re ready when the urge to go out is greater than the need to kip.
    Huge Hugs Anne.

    Like

    Reply

  4. Ann, I am so sorry for your lingering cold. It does make one feel pretty bad not to be able to enjoy an outing.
    But this too shall pass and I’ll send up a small prey for this the end quickly.

    Like

    Reply

  5. This is what you call a humdinger of a cold – is it as bad as the one John suffered through last year and resorted to going to the doc for antibiotics? I am no fan of doctors, so like you, I just suffer through it ’til its over – you must make some of your favorite foods once you feel up to par and can taste and smell again!

    Like

    Reply

      1. We have a very outbreak of the flu in Michigan – two pediatric deaths already. I think it got very bad since the holidays. When I was at the grocery store, it seemed everyone was coughing or sneezing.

        Like

        Reply

          1. Indeed! I’m staying clear of everyone … it could be weeks before this flu outbreak subsides. We have a dicey weather weekend – just torrential rain since midnight and will continue all day long – northern burbs will get ice. So hopefully people stay put and the outbreak subsides a little due to people staying home.

            Like

            Reply

              1. We had torrential rain this morning and it has been raining since midnight Saturday – no flooding thankfully and they are playing college hockey so I can’t hear the news and the streaming on their website is not working – likely everyone would like to hear the news about the weather and hockey has been on the all-news station since 5:30 – grrrr. Wondering how the northern burbs have fared as they were expecting ice and have 200 linemen in from other states to assist with downed wires and fallen trees resulting in power outages. The weather all over the U.S. is so erratic – I heard about the tornadoes before they started their hockey game.

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply

  8. I had the flu the turned into a sinus infection. It still rendered me useless, but even though I was coughing my sinus congestion never became a full on cold keeping me up at night. I did use Vick’s on my chest with a flax hot pad and put a tablespoon of Vicks in a saucepan of water, boiled it and inhaled deeply. That was amazing. Thank you for not sharing your germs with others at a restaurant. Although I think it’s the folks unknowingly coming down with something who are the most contagious than the ones getting over it.

    Like

    Reply

  9. What a beautiful place. I sorry you weren’t able to enjoy it more. I’d rub some of that vapor rub on my chest and dab a little under my nose to help break up that congestion. Hope you can pass the “sniff test ” soon.

    Like

    Reply

  11. So sorry to read that your cold lingers. I can’t even imagine balancing on the log/rocks in the picture. I would have had wet feet for sure if I had tried.

    Yay for red pepper flakes!

    Like

    Reply

    1. I couldn’t get my courage up to leap across stones in the water. Maybe I should have tried. Squishing down the mountain would have been the worst of it. Hopefully I would have remembered to ask for the keys to the car.

      Like

      Reply

  12. Funny when I realized I’d lost my sense of smell it was over Vicks. I was putting it on my feet at night to quit coughing when it occurred to me that I couldn’t smell it. That was about 5 years ago. I never regained my ability to smell after that cold that turned into something worse and last like 8 weeks. I am curious about your Catawaba pics. Last time I went there I waded across the first river that ended up being thigh-high on my 5’3″ self because I’m not good at rock hopping. Wet jeans but took boots off. I since heard they built a bridge so is that not true or was that the second water crossing? If I recall there were three water crossings one way on that trip to the lower falls. The wide one at the start, a shallow one to the left midway, a big tree at a little drop off lastly before reaching the lower falls. I was hoping the bridge was really there?

    Like

    Reply

    1. The new bridge is marvelous. There are photos of it on line. The stream that stopped me was the one before getting to Catawba Falls.

      I am very disappointed that you didn’t get back your sense of smell after a terrible cold. We have one daughter who can’t smell very much, and I don’t want that for myself. Is there no hope your nose would work again??

      Like

      Reply

      1. Funny on the last water crossing for me. I wasn’t sure I should try it. My balance isn’t great. Hubby offered to carry the camera gear. I still wasn’t sure. Then people 25 years younger than me went across the log in flip flops and it became well if they can do it. I can too. 🙂 I’ll have to go back.

        I don’t actually remember the year I lost it. I do remember the cold that wouldn’t go away. As much as I HATE going to doctors. I actually did go to an ENT. He had me try steroid spray. Didn’t help. Every once in awhile, like 2 or 3 times a year I get a fleeting whiff of a scent but then it’s gone and back to nothing. Silver lining is I can help dig the potatoes in the garden without gagging when my hand squishes through a rotten potato. Just this morning I carried the milk with yesterday’s date on it for hubby to tell me if it was good or bad. ENT said it may never come back and this many years later I’ve given up hope.

        Like

        Reply

        1. Our daughter thought she ruined her sense of smell by using harsh chemicals to clean houses. She earned more money cleaning than she would have baby sitting. She was a teen then and is 51 now. Still no smelling anything. She has volunteered several times to clean kennels at a rescue center. Y’all’s disability can be an asset!

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          1. That is one way to look at it 🙂 Although I’d still love it if our ability to smell smoke before seeing a fire, natural gas leak, bad food or drink before consuming, if I had body odor, or bad breath, if my cat had a urinary issue, if I stepped in something or was near a bear in the woods. It is surprising how many have limited senses. If only my others, hearing, sight etc would’ve picked up to compensate. Mine hasn’t been gone as long as your daughter’s has. Bet she’s given up on it returning too. BTW I did install a nat gas detector in our house. She might want to get one too.

            Like

            Reply

  15. The only cure is rest. And more rest. And more rest. With younger ones illnesses seem to pass much more quickly. I could always tell when one daughter was on the mend because she would ask for Chinese food.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Both posts related to your sickness were so vivid….that was a rough head cold (sounds like it’s still lingering)! Your sense of humor shines through though, despite your coughing and fatigue. Hope you are able to smell the Vick’s knock-off very soon, declaring you officially cured! Keep taking those naps!💕💤

    Like

    Reply

Do you have a comment? I'd love to hear from you.