Update: The "Long Cough" Knocked Me Out

Hi all. It’s been about a month since I’ve written and I feel badly about that. I appreciate all my readers, so I wanted to update you all with what’s been going on.

Easter is a busy time at work (church), and then I had a health event a couple of weeks leading up to it. I came down with what the locals are calling a “long cough.” It’s been going around plenty. When you come down with the “long cough” it is a deep cough and it lasts for 3 or more weeks. Although I was told it was likely a “virus.” He was unsure of what it was and I don’t believe in “viruses” as little persecutors that I fall “victim” to.

But, regardless of what it was, it hit hard. I don’t think I ever got COVID in the past, but if I did, it wasn’t enough to notice it. This was horrible. I was throwing up mucus¹. That post nasal drip & consequences led to not being able to eat because everything solid scratched my throat causing me to throw up again². I pulled a rib muscle from coughing which can apparently take about 5 weeks to heal.

I normally go to work through rough patches, but I couldn’t make it in the first week. I went to the clinic three times and was put on a couple of opioids³. When I went in to work one week into it they sent me back home again and I was thankful. I’m very grateful that they were able to cover for me on Holy Week and I had plenty of paid sick time to use.

I went back to work this week, but had to go home early a couple of times due to being exhausted. I’m normally exhausted, but between the opioids, healing, and my normal exhaustion, I just couldn’t stay the full day. I’ve tried not using the drugs last night, and I think I can do that. But it’s difficult to get off those without falling into depression as well. I’m still coughing but it’s nothing like it was in the first couple of weeks.

For now I am going to focus on healing up, and I don’t know when I will feel up to writing again. So I thought I ought to update you all.

Thanks for your support.

1. TMI perhaps, but if I said I was throwing up people would think my stomach was upset. This was a problem with not being able to clear my system out fast enough, not an upset tummy.

2. Once again, this wasn’t a stomach issue. It was my throat being unable to take in food.

3. Normally I wouldn’t take drugs, but I needed something…