Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Cats, Colds, Christmas.

 The tree is up, which makes me happy. One more thing checked off the list. The stars are lit in the front window, and Tim's beloved bubble lights are bubbling away. 


I'll try to snap a picture of our tree tomorrow night. 

The cat is out of the basement and is somewhere on the first floor. It wasn't pretty, and I know that I did not make him any less fearful, but he needed to be out of that basement. I think he's in the library. The good news is that there's a nice crackling fire going in there.  I fixed his dinner dishes and set them right where they've always been. He no longer has access to the basement. 

William had covid last week. His mother came down with it Sunday. Her significant other tested positive today.

Tim does NOT have covid. He is nearly done with his antibiotic but still has a horrible cough. This is worrisome to me. It's been days since either one of us has slept through the night. I also cannot tell you the times that I've been awakened by him coughing in my face. 

The OTC cough remedies we had on hand don't seem to do a thing. My go-to is ginger tea with a nice dollop of honey. (He does not like ginger.) Mentholated chest rubs. (He doesn't like the way they feel.) I suggested a vaporizer.  (He argued.) 

I mean, this is exactly the sort of thing that you read about...colds that don't go away, turn into pneumonia, hospitalizations, people die. So, I AM worried,  I finally lost all patience over the weekend and put my foot down. I went out and bought that vaporizer. I turn it on and if he wants to sleep in our bed, I guess he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I also bitched until he used the chest rub. Turns out he thinks it helps. 

I think he has given up on OTCs, to be honest. but last night I went out and read labels for a half hour. finally settling on Maximum Strength Mucinex DM 12 Hour.  I brought the box home and he read the label and for once he didn't argue with me. He just took it. There was some coughing in the night, but he woke up this morning and said, "Man. I feel great. I slept all night long!" 

Hallelujah. It's a start. Everybody needs to get healthy and STAY healthy. My youngest daughter and son-in-law flew into NYC today. I cannot think of anything more hearthbreaking that someone getting sick and suddenly our family Christmas is not happening. 

15 comments:

  1. I'm glad you found something for Tim's cough. Coughs tend to last must longer than the illness does, I think the average is something like 2.5 weeks. If the cough medicine stops working, codeine (by prescription) works well too.

    I'm glad the kitten is out of the basement. Cats and dogs can be such drama queens.

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  2. The cat may come out when the coughing stops. Unless his nose is stuffy, try just plain cough syrup. It's taken my cough 2 months to stop after the Type A flu. Maybe the cat will calm down with a dose of cough syrup too? (Nope, just teasing, don't do that.) Linda in Kansas

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  3. I love those bubble lights, I've never seen any before. I'm glad hubby gave in on the treatments and is beginning to feel better.

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  4. I personally know three people that have had similar symptoms and duration as Tim. In all cases it took them 2 to 3 weeks before they started definitely getting better. All of them tested negative for Covid. I have wondered if it was the RSV but perhaps it is just another random virus making its rounds. It hasn't found its way into our household yet and I'm hoping it doesn't. In a couple weeks, I plan to just hunker down for a month and let the world pass me by!

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  5. It seems that lots of our friends have been going down with nasty cold/flu/Covid bugs. I am hoping we escape unscathed.

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  6. This IS worrisome. And I take it Tim won't go back to the doctor? I surely hope he gets better before Christmas. And I also hope your cat overcomes fear, tiny step by tiny step.

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  7. Some of us , for some reason or other, dislike what is meant to help us. I hope Tim Recovers rapidly after this.

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  8. Oh I do hope that he gets better soon. I got covid early November and V mid-November - he is still recovering and his bark is something chronic.

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  9. Mucinex has worked for me in the past. I too had that relentless cough. I wouldn't be surprised if it was RSV. I tested for Covid and it was negative and didn't have any other symptoms. Sleeping was definitely tough. I ended up drugging myself with Nighttime Nyquil. Glad Tim got some sleep!

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  10. When I have the awful post virus cough at night I find that putting something warm on/around my neck helps a lot. Just don't strangle him.

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  11. I haven’t been sick for several years, but I would always have a terrible cough. I’ve become loyal to plain old hot water with lemon and honey. Both have anti germ qualities that seem to calm that racking cough. Take care! Bonnie in Minneapolis

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  12. Easy time of year to get sick but a very tough time to get sick.

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  13. This is one of the worst cold/flu seasons in years. Our grandchildren cannot stay well. They expose us and we start the whole thing over again. My wife and I have passed a cold back and forth for nearly two months. Today she went to the doc and got an antibiotic, the doc saying it's developed into a sinus infection. I'll try anything and might be on my way to get a vaporizer after I type this. Hope Tim continues to recover.

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  14. Dave swears by that Mucinex. (Which is a disgusting name, BTW.)

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  15. Christmas and flu are synonymous, it is that wretched time of the year when colds and flu fly around.

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