There is almost a rhythm to the pounding in my head. The constant thumping in sync with the beat of my heart might almost lull me to sleep if it wasn’t accompanied by pain.
My face hurts. Yeah, yeah and it’s killing you, right? Seriously. My face hurts. My sinuses are under attack, and there is pain and pressure in my forehead, eyes and cheeks.
My nose is congested, and at the best of times I can breathe through one of my nostrils. There is sneezing, blowing and now redness despite the lotion covered tissues.
The post nasal drip irritates my already sore throat and is causing a significant drop in appetite. It is also causing a persistent, dry cough.
Sleep eludes me. Just as I begin dozing off a coughing fit comes or I gag from the all of the nasal congestion.
So what’s the diagnosis? A drug resistant flu strain? Pneumonia? Whooping Cough? Tuberculosis?
No. Far worse. I’m not sure how this happened and I’m left wondering why this happened to me. Something is amiss in the universe, you see, I think I’ve caught a “man cold.”
By all accounts, this is just an ordinary cold. There was a slight fever on the first day, but four days later my temperature is normal. So why do I feel like this is the end? Why do I just want to curl up under a blanket and die? Why do I feel like I want to cry and moan and have someone take care of me? All signs point to a man cold. I just don’t know how this happened.
Unfortunately, since women are not known to contract “man colds,” I got up and showered. Still feeling terrible I dressed myself and my kids, fed them breakfast, made lunch, dropped Joey off at school, came home and did the dishes and a load of laundry. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to have a “man cold” but until then I’ll have to suffer through a “Mom cold” which comes with no sympathy, no one doing stuff for you, and no time off.