A cold in reverse

I have been feeling rather shitty lately. I have this cold thing going on and I feel all blech. I've stayed home from school 2 days on the trot. it is a strange reverse cold and by this I mean it is going UP and not DOWN.

A cold for me usually begins with sneezing and then a clogged nose and sinus issues--the expression here is "my head is full of cold" and then the acid snot drips down my throat causing to me to lose my voice and then migrates to my chest where I end up using my inhaler repeatedly because my chest is tight and I can't breathe. This one started in my chest then moved up to my throat (I sound like I have smoked a pack of fags a day since the age of 7. Spiderman says I should be some Russian femme fatale in a Bond film or chasing "Moose and Squirrel" with Borris Badenoff) and today has moved into my head accompanied by sneezing.  Joy.

But I have done the right thing and stayed home and not spread my germs all over the school (which to be fair is where I probably picked up my germs). I sometimes have trouble resting when ill--in Louisiana you had to be practically on your death bed to be allowed a substitute teacher. Once I had horrible flu and was told there were no subs available and so I went to school in my jim-jams wrapped in a blanket and lay on the floor and showed films all day to my first graders. Maybe it is because I am not a teacher and my absence is not as difficult to cover, but my school is really good about illness. I showed up Tuesday all coughing and a voice like I should be singing Negro spirituals and was sent home by 9:00. They said "Go home and rest. you are clearly poorly."

And so I have. I have rested and drank lots of fluids and some echinacea and zinc and have watched films and tried to feel better. I hope I do soon.