Diary of a Cold

Saturday
10.30pm - Been feeling steadily worse as the evening has progressed. We kept Meg off school yesterday because she had quite a nasty cold. Think I must have caught it

11.30pm – lying in bed reading and my left nostril is completely blocked and yet is dripping at the same time. Have to put a couple of sheets of tissue on the pillow beneath my head.

Sunday
2.30am – difficulty breathing and swallowing. Left side of my throat has swollen up and my mouth feels like I’ve been swilling battery acid. Left nostril is now clear, but right one is completely blocked and dripping. Feel crap.

3.30am – cannot get back to sleep - keep having to blow my nose and whimper each time I swallow. Maggie is sound asleep. Consider waking her up for a bit of sympathy. Think the better of it. Left nostril is blocked again but the right one has cleared. Feel crap.

4am – give up trying to get back to sleep. Go downstairs and watch an episode of Torchwood I recorded earlier in the week. Faeries are evil, psychotic killers, apparently. Feel crap.

4.30am – bloody freezing. Put heating timer on override. Take ibuprofen. Feel crap.

5.am – Meg gets up early. Send her back to bed. Am a little dizzy when I stand up. Feel crap.

5.30am – watching Countdown. Carol Vorderman really shouldn’t dress like she’s 30 years younger. Feel crap.

6am – So tired. Ibuprofen beginning to kick in. Start to drift off on the sofa, but keep waking up with a gushing nose. Feel crap.

6.30am – make myself some breakfast now that I can swallow without too much pain. Meg gets up permanently. Feel crap.

7am - Feel crap.

7.30am – Go back to bed but every time I try to snuggle into Maggie I have to leap away again to avoid my dripping nose coating her hair. Feel crap.

8am – Can’t sleep. Maggie gets up. Feel crap.

8.30am – pillowcase is getting sodden. Feel crap.

9am – Cough. The vilest tasting phlegm in the universe comes up and my throat and chest feel like I’ve been gargling with broken glass. Feel crap.

9.30am – trying not to cough. Feel crap.

10am - Feel crap.

10.30am - Feel crap.

11am - Feel crap.

11.30am – Try doing a Sudoku puzzle. Makes my eyes hurt. Feel crap.

12pm – Take more Ibuprofen. Feel crap.

12.30pm – Bowl of Maggie’s thick, homemade, vegetable soup. Feels wonderful while I’m eating it. Once I reach the bottom of the bowl I feel crap.

1pm - Feel crap.

1.30pm – Maggie’s off to see Rogan playing the trumpet in the school concert. Feel really low that I’m going to miss it. Feel crap.

2pm – Put “Alice in Wonderland” on the DVD for Meg. Feel crap.

2.30pm - Feel crap.

3pm - Feel crap.

3.30pm – Feel better! Just kidding. Feel crap.

4pm – Maggie and Rogan get home. Maggie is drenched. It is chucking it down with rain outside. It was dry when she left so she put on a warm jacket rather than a waterproof one. Maggie feels crap.

4.30pm – starting to drift off on the sofa again. At one point I manage ten whole minutes asleep before waking up with a painful cough. Feel crap.

5pm - Feel crap.

5.30pm – warm soup with a homemade scone. Bliss. Cough. Ouch. Feel crap.

6pm – finding it increasingly difficult to move about. Get bursts of dizziness every time I stand up or try and walk. Feel crap.

6.30pm - Feel crap.

7pm – Maggie’s watching the Antiques Roadshow. I wanted to watch a programme about a woman swimming with sharks but as Antiques Roadshow is just about the only programme she insists on watching while I have complete control over the remote for the rest of the week, I don’t make any headway, despite using the puppy eyes. Feel crap

7.30pm – Feeling really crap. It feels like every nerve ending is hypersensitive, and when I move my legs it's like ice suddenly shoots through my veins

8.pm – desperately want more ibuprofen but can only have 2 more today so had better save them for when I go to bed. Feel crappily crap.

8.30pm – The heating has been on all day, I’m wearing several layers, I’m under a blanket on the sofa and I’m feeling cold. Crap, crap, crap.

9.pm – As well as the cold and pain, when I try moving I get bursts of uncontrollable shivering. Take the ibuprofen. Crap, crap, crap, crap.

9.30pm – Crap, crap, crap, crap, crappity crap, crappity crap, crap, crap, crap, crap.

10pm – I want to die.

10.30pm – Don’t think the ibuprofen is having any effect. I am so tired, I hurt, I’m cold, I’m dizzy, I’m shaking, my head is pounding. It takes me a while, but eventually I make it up to bed.

Monday
12.30am – Wake up in a pool of sweat, blasting out enough heat to melt the One Ring to Rule Them All. Take off remaining layers.

2.30am – wake up again and feel ok. It doesn’t hurt when I move. Smile. Fall asleep.

8am – feel a bit fragile, but I can breathe, I can swallow, I’m not sore and my nose isn’t dripping.

I'M ALIVE!!!