Cold Case
I’m feeling better. The past couple days I’ve had a cold attacking my sinuses like John Gibbons going after his starting pitcher. It’s already starting to let up, which is a relief since I tend to get sick suddenly, and slowly improve over the next two weeks. Naturally the rest of the family has my cold, but they’re all improving as well. Except Ellie.
My nose had been running hard for the previous week, making me think it was just my allergies acting up. I’m allergic to a lot of things, including grasses, pet dander, dust mites, and basically anything inedible. I live with the pets and the mites year round, so I’m used to those, but the rest of my allergens flourish in weather like the unseasonably cool and moist August we’ve been enjoying even though it’s an obvious foreshadowing of a brutal winter.
My sinuses started screaming Sunday night after playing with the kids in the park. I was hoping that something was in bloom and infuriating my immune system, and as soon as I went back inside our clamped shut home filled with mechanically cooled air, I’d feel better. When I started feeling worse after lying down on the couch yet strangely reluctant to rise back to my feet, I knew that the only allergies acting up in me were my allergies to the cold virus.
I noticed Abbie nose had filled with nasal gold at bedtime. I reached for the greatest known children’s cold medicine: Dytan. It’s a 12-hour version of Benadryl, which means it helps the child sleep all night. Whether or not it actually clears the congestion is debatable, but that’s not the point. If a child’s nose is plugged, and the child sleeps all night, does the mucus bother the child?
She spent the next day breathing through her mouth, which leads to drooling. A lot of drooling. Soaking wet shirt amount of drooling. When she was younger, I’d leave a bib on her all day to soak up the drool. Now that she’s coordinated enough to remove clothing, bibs never stay on her long, as evidenced by the yogurt stains on her shirt after every lunch. She doesn’t like bibs, and she doesn’t like wet shirts either since she kept removing her shirt throughout the day.* Eventually I let her go topless and flash her brothers the rest of the day.
I think the boys are sick, but they’re taking it well. I noticed Ian was snotty last week, but I’d hoped it was my imagination, or maybe those mythical allergies. This week Tory is snotty. Other than being a little extra cranky, I don’t notice a difference. I believe this is their first illness, so our diligence in hygiene, keeping them away from crowds, and vaccinating them for every known disease when they were younger paid off. I hope every illness they suffer passes with so little notice.
Now everyone is feeling better. I’ve stored the Dytan, preferring to use the cheaper Benadryl as needed. I don’t plan on taking any cold medicine for myself tonight, which might allow me to wake up before the children tomorrow morning. Ellie, well, I hope Ellie gets a good night’s sleep. Apparently this is a fast moving illness, so she should feel better soon.
* Except for when I let her outside to play with the neighbors and their garden hose, then she left her shirt on.
My nose had been running hard for the previous week, making me think it was just my allergies acting up. I’m allergic to a lot of things, including grasses, pet dander, dust mites, and basically anything inedible. I live with the pets and the mites year round, so I’m used to those, but the rest of my allergens flourish in weather like the unseasonably cool and moist August we’ve been enjoying even though it’s an obvious foreshadowing of a brutal winter.
My sinuses started screaming Sunday night after playing with the kids in the park. I was hoping that something was in bloom and infuriating my immune system, and as soon as I went back inside our clamped shut home filled with mechanically cooled air, I’d feel better. When I started feeling worse after lying down on the couch yet strangely reluctant to rise back to my feet, I knew that the only allergies acting up in me were my allergies to the cold virus.
I noticed Abbie nose had filled with nasal gold at bedtime. I reached for the greatest known children’s cold medicine: Dytan. It’s a 12-hour version of Benadryl, which means it helps the child sleep all night. Whether or not it actually clears the congestion is debatable, but that’s not the point. If a child’s nose is plugged, and the child sleeps all night, does the mucus bother the child?
She spent the next day breathing through her mouth, which leads to drooling. A lot of drooling. Soaking wet shirt amount of drooling. When she was younger, I’d leave a bib on her all day to soak up the drool. Now that she’s coordinated enough to remove clothing, bibs never stay on her long, as evidenced by the yogurt stains on her shirt after every lunch. She doesn’t like bibs, and she doesn’t like wet shirts either since she kept removing her shirt throughout the day.* Eventually I let her go topless and flash her brothers the rest of the day.
I think the boys are sick, but they’re taking it well. I noticed Ian was snotty last week, but I’d hoped it was my imagination, or maybe those mythical allergies. This week Tory is snotty. Other than being a little extra cranky, I don’t notice a difference. I believe this is their first illness, so our diligence in hygiene, keeping them away from crowds, and vaccinating them for every known disease when they were younger paid off. I hope every illness they suffer passes with so little notice.
Now everyone is feeling better. I’ve stored the Dytan, preferring to use the cheaper Benadryl as needed. I don’t plan on taking any cold medicine for myself tonight, which might allow me to wake up before the children tomorrow morning. Ellie, well, I hope Ellie gets a good night’s sleep. Apparently this is a fast moving illness, so she should feel better soon.
* Except for when I let her outside to play with the neighbors and their garden hose, then she left her shirt on.
posted by Matt at
10:52 PM
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