Out of sorts with a lingering headache and a scratchy throat, cursing the impulse to invite a friend to lunch the other day, despite knowing her husband was sick with a bad cold. Men being needy creatures, she had stayed by his side, supplied soup and kleenex until she was going stir-crazy.
I don't know if it was a reaction to the pills I was taking all week to keep working through my symptoms but my back-ache turned into kidney (or something in that vicinity) pain and an above the navel stomach ache simultaneously; reminiscent of the early to mid stages of child birth. I lay awake Tuesday night self-diagnosing stones or tumors and begging for sleep.
Around 3:30 am sweaty and miserable (no fever just a warm night) I took a shower and then picked up the phone to see if the advice nurse thought I needed a visit to the Emergency Room. Carol sounded as though she was suffering from allergies herself and she said her voice was going after a long shift. She asked a lot of questions and had my records on her computer screen in front of her so could see that I'm usually healthy. Our decision was that I could take another pain/anti-inflammatory pill, with milk and/or food and tough it out until 6 am at which time I could call for an urgent clinic appointment and possibly get to see my own doctor.
I lay on the living room couch and experienced 90 minutes of miraculously delicious sleep. Waking without pain, although tired and off my game, I was able to get through the day. I kept waiting for the pain to return but, happily, all that was left were my dry tickly cough and the perpetual headache behind my eyes.
We had a social commitment, early last evening, to meet a relatively new friend for drinks. I would have loved to cancel but she is working hard at being our friend. M. wanted to introduce us to someone who might be interested in Hubby's paintings and she is lonely and shaken by her husband's desertion and emptying of joint bank accounts. Thank goodness we went in separate cars! The unexpected part of the evening was that M. had invited a few other couples and had spent all day cooking up a feast and expected us to stay for dinner.
I kept my polite face on until 10 pm. and left Hubby to it. I drove home, fed the dog and fell into bed. Poor Hubby was trapped. He couldn't leave until someone else led the way. His sense of direction is abysmal and he had no clue where he was. I didn't hear him come in at all.
This morning was rough but daylight is undeniable, we had things to do. We dragged ourselves out of bed a few minutes before seven, which is late for us on a week day.
I spent some time watering the flowers in the garden and dragging the bubble-plastic pool cover out of the bushes so that we might accumulate some heat during the days and not lose it all at night. We haven't been able to use it at all during the time we had the foster dogs, in case they fell in and drowned. They had tried to walk on water a few times in the early days of their stay. They learned to recognize the wet stuff but were unclear why they couldn't walk on the plastic floating cover so I had retired it, "temporarily".
I had a long standing booking for a riding lesson at nine this morning. Despite feeling like Death-Warmed-Over, I decided it couldn't make me feel any worse and I was annoyed that I have missed a few weeks lately, due to last minute client dramas etc. I'd be paying regardless, if I cancelled this late, which was also a factor.
Driving up the hill past the reservoir to the barn surrounded by vineyards, I was glad I made the effort. I had a vigorous hour on an ex-racehorse named Jeddah; for once I didn't feel as though I might need to get off and push. I can't remember the last time I was on a Thoroughbred. It was great!
I always forget the rest of the world's woes when I ride. Can we bottle it and market the cure for the common cold?
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