Fabulous. Not only am I on antibiotics now - with an Elephant Man foot, I am also sick as a dog.
When I cut down on smoking last October 1 - I can't really say that I've quit because I still smoke, particularly when I am drinking, which is often - I started noticing a lump in my throat. I thought it was phlegm and paid it no mind, thinking it would eventually go away.
But when we were in Burma, I noticed that either the lump was getting bigger or my throat was constricting. I wondered if this was still connected to the smoking or if it was a symptom of a late-onset allergy. I worried that - godforbid - I had developed an allergy to wheat or sugar or, worse, both!
And then I wasn't sure if the lump was really real or if it was all in my head, but the choking sensation induced some pretty freaky panic attacks. I had had panic attacks before but they occurred once, at the most twice, a year. In Burma, I was having them three to four times a week! I procured some anti-anxiety meds but they left me groggy so I tried not to take them.
Back in the Philippines, the obstruction in my throat remained. Sometimes, I could ignore it; sometimes, I couldn't. But last December 25, during our family Christmas dinner, the lump in my throat could no longer be ignored. I got myself an expectorant and some lozenges and I slept with my pillows propped up.
When I woke up the next morning, the lump in my throat was gone but, in its place, was a fever, a cold, a cough and a general malaise, including a stiff neck from the propped-up pillows.
As I write this, my eyes are burning, my nose is stuffed up, my throat is still itchy so I'm coughing, and my bones hurt. I feel like shit. I hope that whatever this is is on its way out because I'm tired of looking and feeling like shit and, more than anything, I really would like some wine, please.
This is just wrong.
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