I Have a Cold
Added: December 31, 2005

Originally posted on NYRA forums on March 9, 2005.

Yup. Happens every once in a while. Bad part only lasts two or three days tops, followed by several days of constant coughing. In fact, if anyone remembers the December 21 YR chat, I was pretty out of it then due to the December cold I had at the time. Anyway, colds follow this interesting pattern. I always get one in September, and the September cold is often a particularly bad one. This one right now is my Spring one, which can be in either March, April, or May. Varies. I was sick like this the day I received my acceptance letter to Salisbury back in May 2000. In nine semesters of college, I had a cold through four final exam weeks!

When people think of a cold, they really tend to act like you're sicker than you really are, which I find kind of annoying, despite the good intentions. That's my case anyway. People think "wrap yourself in a zillion blankets, eat nothing but soup, drink tea, stay in bed, blah blah blah." Screw that. Life doesn't stop just because your throat hurts and your respiratory tract is filled with scratchy phlegm. I think that mindset of mine began when I started at Montgomery College. Before then, in high school and earlier on, I took almost any excuse to not have to go to school. When I got to college, however, I felt that this was really important, so I can't miss a day and must work much harder now. Got that feeling also when I saw the bookstore sold those tiny (and overpriced!) packets of cold medicine. What do you do when you have a cold? You take your medicine and move on.

And that's just what I did. I never missed a day of college due to a cold. Despite my newfound professional approach to the malady, I still had the issue of what medications to take. NyQuil has never worked with me. Triaminic was good stuff (well, the orange kind anyway). But I couldn't take the syrupy medicines anymore. They make me throw up. So I'm stuck on pills. Well, I tried TheraFlu, and it worked for a while, but I eventually got sick of it. So, yeah, stuck on the pills. Even then, can't take the pill versions of NyQuil or DayQuil. They make me throw up too! I took Tylenol Sinus for a little while until I realized it wasn't helping. Then, in 2001, I discovered Tylenol Cold! Gooooood stuff. On top of dulling the inner ear irritation and helping me breathe, it comes with a nice little medicine high. Ever see that Simpsons when Apu had worked 96 hours straight and thought he was a hummingbird of some kind, then they show footage of him flitting across the store like a hummingbird? That's about how I feel when on Tylenol Cold. Not sure what ingredient did it or how it happens. TheraFlu did it, too. It's an awesome reaction. Even as I type this, I'm doing a little dance in my chair, and there isn't even any music playing. I'm sure I look like a retard, but I don't care. I'm happy.

Anyway, the finals. Never did miss any of them. Took my tests with a pack of tissues beside me and possibly a soda. It was funny in my Calculus class when I wanted to ask a question about a homework problem and couldn't talk so I held up my fingers to indicate the problem number and mouthed the word "five".

What's annoying is how the fever fucks with you. Yesterday, I woke up with my mind on this continuous loop I couldn't get out of. It sucked. It was like it robbed any ability of conscious thought I had. Got out of it finally, but it was scary.

I tried out the salt water trick. Put a little salt water up your nose if the phlegm blocks your breathing. Gargle salt water to soothe sore throat. My grandmother recommended it. Works great! Makes you feel like you've been swimming in the ocean, but otherwise it works very well.

Uh, that's enough mindless rambling for now.


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