I’m still sick. The current thought is that I’m just dealing with significant leftover inflammation from the severe infection that I had, and that I’m not contagious, just still feeling kind of miserable. I’m taking anti-inflammatory medication round the clock and it’s mostly keeping the pain in check and hopefully also helping to decrease the levels of inflammation in my throat. I’m back at work, though struggling a bit, since the inflammation has left me prone to coughing and bronchospasm, particularly when I talk – a challenge since I talk on the phone for a living!
But these many weeks of illness (I’ve been sick since July 2nd) have left me grateful for some little things, and I wanted to share a few of those here.
- The relief of a cold popsicle on my sore and inflamed throat. I’ve been going through a lot of popsicles, not normally a staple in my diet, and one memory of these stands out. It was about 4 am at the hospital and a very apologetic nurse had just told me she couldn’t give me any pain killers until I saw the doctor. She very kindly offered me a popsicle for my throat and a warm blanket for my body. Nothing has tasted so good as that simple peach flavored popsicle after a long night of waiting for care.
- I’m grateful for a family who has been checking in on me and offering help as needed
- I’m grateful that despite missing a bunch of work, and being out of paid sick time, my paycheque was still enough to cover my rent and a few small bills, and that the next paycheque will let me catch up the other things
- I’m grateful for a freezer full of food so that a small paycheque doesn’t mean I have to choose between food and rent.
- And I’m grateful for audiobooks and podcasts that have kept me company during the long hours I’ve spent in bed this month, trying to rest and recover.
Lisa From Canada 