I'm still getting over that awful cold/cough that started 2 weeks ago and I have to admit it sort of scared me. There were times I coughed so hard and often that I couldn't catch my breath and feared fainting. I don't think I would have lived through it if I was 10 years older. I don't get the flu shot because it made me sick the two times I got it but I will definitely get the pneumonia shot next fall.
The human body is a truly amazing thing the way it works to heal us. On the 3rd day of this cold, I sensed a strength inside me growing and slowly overcoming the germs that had invaded my body. It's that sense of inner strength that gives us hope we'll recover from whatever ails us.
Looking back, and with hindsight, I realize I should have seen a doctor at the end of the first week instead of toughing it out for another week of coughing but I didn't. If I'd been back home I would have dragged myself to my doctor but I don't like to do that down here in the States simply because it would be a stranger. A cold might last a week but after that you're fighting an infection that can be helped by taking an antibiotic.
Many of the people in this park have suffered through this recent illness and it's lasted at least 2 weeks for all of them. One lady told me she didn't realize a body could hold so much snot. Whatever strain we had, I sure hope it left antibodies against any other cold germs on the horizon.
What I learned is:
1. see a doctor at the end of week 1 if there isn't significant
improvement.
2. stay off crowded bus trips if possible.
3. don't go near anyone with a cold.
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