Argh!

The dreaded head cold! It has burrowed it's way into our home once again! And though I use the antibacterial hand gel and wash my hands regularly somehow it found me.

My husband is more than likely the culprit who brought this sickness home. He just returned from nine days on the road with a strange little cough. I warned him to stay away from our daughter (who is still cold-free) but I think he passed it on to me instead. He's one of those guys who rarely discusses any ailments with the rest of the family. You wouldn't know he had a cold except for the cough. I, on the other hand, as much as I try to stay silent, find myself discussing the topic out loud to anyone who will listen. "Great..." I say to my husband at the table, "both nostrils are completely plugged." "Hm" he says without so much as batting an eye. "I can't blow either....completely plugged!" I say once again trying to rally some sort of conversation about it. "Tsk" he says giving me a tiny head shake out of respect but with no interest continuing the conversation. Well, I can hardly blame him. Nobody wants to hear much about another person's sickness.

The problem with the cold isnt so much the discomfort as it is the lack of knowledge of what is coming next. Let's face it, I think we would all jump for joy over a head cold if the only other option were some sort of stomach virus. But the head cold is so mysterious! "Will I be able to breathe today?" "Will I have a headache?" "If I have a headache will it be my forehead? my cheeks? the back of my head?" "Will I have a runny nose? a cough?" It's always changing...always moving. For instance, last night I climbed into bed with a reasonable amount of breathing going on thru the nose. I had a headache, and mom always said sleep with your head elevated if you have a cold, so I doubled up on pillows and layed on my back. Not 10 minutes after lying down I had lost all breathing ablility thru my nose and had to resort to the detestable mouth breathing. Thus dry mouth and throat set in within a matter of minutes which resorted in a tickly throat that brought on a coughing fit. Finally I decided only a drink of water would solve the matter so I was up again. I got my water, some extra tissues and headed back to bed.

At this point my nose was still completely stuffed, so I decided to try a side sleeping position. I like the right side best, so layed back down, opened my mouth to breathe, and began to rest. Now I know I cant be the only person to have this happen....slowly but surely all the stuff in my head found it's way to the right nostril and miraculously I could breathe again thru the left side! Woo-hoo! As much as I hate to admit it, I would much rather have one side available for air flow than nothing at all. The problem is after only so long you just have to change positions. So I began to get antsy and made the move to my left side. Well, you know how it goes. Needless to say I spent the rest of the night turning from side to side. I tried my stomach once--and let me warn you--stay off your belly if you've got a head cold! You wont breathe for hours!

Today things are moving again. The stuffy nose is gone and has been replaced with a dry, tickly cough. There's no sign of headache! Hurray! But all that could change this evening! And so the mystery of the common head cold continues....