Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Day 141 - Cold Comfort

When we were at the practice studio the other day, M__, one of our keyboard players, apologised for a steenkin' cold he had.

When we walked into the actual practice room itself, we were very pleased to notice an air con unit. I've never had an air con unit in a practice room before. Normally they're hotter than hell. This place was pretty salubrious in comparison.

The smart cookies amongst my readers have already put a cold and an air con unit together and made 2. Yup, three of the rest of us have gone down with a stinker, all of us having at least one day off work. I've had two. I'm feeling crappy. I'm a lot better today, and will go back tomorrow but it's been a miserable couple of days. I went to work on Monday despite waking up with a raw throat. By mid-afternoon, snot was flowing out of my nose so fast you'd think it was a prosthetic with a tube running to a bucket of special effects gunk under my desk. The next morning it had really kicked in with a vengeance.

Now, I realise that us men have something of a reputation when it comes to being ill. The common cold when experienced by a bloke is oft referred to as "man flu" because we're such big whingers. I have a double problem because - and I'm not trying to imply there is a causal link - the only times I've ever had flu is since I've been with K___. Given that she's not had it on any of the occasions I have, I really don't mean to imply any connection! This thing isn't actual flu - at least I don't think so - but it is a nasty bastard of a cold.

Why am I telling you all this? Because for the past two nights I've slept in the spare room (and will again tonight) and I've been desperately trying not to huff my filthy, germ-laden breath anywhere near K___. In fact, colds or even full on flu aren't likely to endanger the baby very much. There is a n increased possibility in early pregnancy of miscarriage but mid-term as we are, it's pretty much not going to bother the foetus.

A really grotty cold might, however, rather inconvenience my wife, and I thought she might argue that I'd already inconvenienced her quite enough. Also, the pregnancy has already suppressed her immune system, so symptoms can persist much longer than they would otherwise. Once you're over 12 and under 38 weeks, it is okay to take some medicines. A non-exhaustive list* would include:

  • Sudafed nasal decongestant
  • Robitussin and Robitussin DM cough syrups
  • Expectorant during daytime hours (to help bring secretions up)
  • Suppressant at night (to help control cough and promote rest)
  • Vicks plain cough syrup
  • Tylenol (generic name acetaminophen) for aches, pains, and temperatures over 100 F

However, it's much better to not get the lurgy in the first place, so I'm doing my best to not infect.

**cough**

* As always, I am not a doctor; I am just some fuckwit with a blog. If you take medical advice from me or any other fuckwit with a blog without running it past someone who actually knows what they're talking about, you sincerely deserve to die. The list there comes from the University of Michigan, so hopefully it's kosher, but do a bit of Googling and find a credible health provider, or better still, ask someone qualified in medicine in the real world, m'kay?

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