Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Just when I thought I had conquered the cold/flu bug that swept through the preschool, I was brought down by a bad cold...that turned into a sinus infection...that has now evolved into an ear infection. :(

I'm currently on my second round of antibiotics. I feel like I have been sick in one way or another for the past two months...and I'm ready to be done with it!

I've dealt with these issues my entire life, so a few years ago my doctor ordered a CT scan of my face...she found out that my super narrow sinuses are all crazy and curvy and weirdly shaped, and my eustachian tubes are kinda flattened (and also super narrow). Apparently these parts are essential to life and cannot simply be ectomy'd.

The fact that I live in the second most polluted area in the country really doesn't help this situation. Add my allergies and my deviated septum to all this, and I basically don't stand a chance when it comes to staying healthy.

I just want to feel better, and for my ear to stop hurting.

And maybe some mashed potatoes...

Defying Maladies

I was feeling so invincible! I got a flu shot back in November, and figured I was good to go!

No germy little hand or snotty little nose was going to bring me down. Not even the pink eye scare before Christmas was going to get in the way of my seemingly perfect health. In fact, I was on my way to setting a personal record. I hadn't had a sniffle, a scratchy throat or any sign of of being under the weather. This flu shot thing was starting to feel too good to be true...and well...the trouble with things that seem too good to be true is that they usually are!

Yesterday I woke up with the onset of a sore throat. I chugged airborne. I drank green tea with honey and lemon. I did EVERYTHING I could think of. But it wasn't enough. I woke up this morning and felt awful! I called in to work and make an appointment to see my doctor. I spent the morning with more tea, and then got to my appointment only to see one of the most frightening sights...a stupid, giant q-tip! Throat cultures are the worst!

And that swab was all in vein...no strep here! Just your regular, run-of-the-mill common cold. At least if it had been strep, I could have gotten some antibiotics to make me feel better instead of playing this waiting game and trying to feel better as soon as possible so I don't miss too much work!

Snow White and the 7 Laurens

On almost any given day, if I had to answer the question 'if you were one of Snow White's dwarfs, which one would you be?' (Which, as we all know, is a question we face on a daily basis...) Normally I'd go with a combo-pack. Happy, Doc and some Dopey thrown in on the side. I would say I'm generally pretty optimistic, but definitely prone to dorkiness, mishaps and occasional social awkwardness.
This week, however, I am forced to change my answer. This week I am Sleepy, Sneezy and (as a result) Grumpy. The weather has definitely been a contributing factor. I haven't exactly been Bashful (see what I did there?) about how I feel towards anything over 75 degrees. I mean, get with the program November!! Did I miss the part where the calendar decided to take a trip in a DeLorean and go back in time to July? Shouldn't we have been done with this nonsense, like, three months ago?
AND on top of it all I'm sick. Not like, go-to-the-doctor sick, but sick enough to be miserable and whine about how much I hate head colds. I'm pretty sure this is going to deplete my tea stash completely. Not to mention I've already had to replenish my soup collection. I have been double- even tripling- up on OTC cold remedies. Theraflu, Mucinex, Airbourne, Cough drops, and about four mugs of green tea with honey and lemon a day. I would totally be kicking this cold's butt if it hadn't already kicked mine. I can't sleep if I can't breathe, and my stupid nose is so congested that I almost have to try to sleep sitting up. My sinuses are trying to invade my face, and unless I am sucking on a cough drop or chugging tea (neither of which I can do while attempting sleep) I am hacking up a lung...which, in turn, gives me a terrible headache! In short, I'm falling apart...