Remember my word for the year? It’s ’embrace’. First up is to embrace my life’s stories. One positive thing I gleaned from reading books is a desire to write one. To do this, I practice by noticing the details of my surroundings. It is helping me live in the moment more. Thus, I started with this chapter right now, Chapter January.
Welcoming the new year with a… *cough*!
It’s January, the first week. The air is still cool, from the storm that visited the country last month, perhaps. Although, the sun is making its presence felt right when the laundry gets hanged to dry. That is a blessing from the Lord.
It’s a new year, a new beginning and it’s probably beginning too, this cough might herald my illness.
I could never forget the time I got the flu. Wrought with fever but I had to soldier on. Most nights I prepared the foam playing mat on the living room floor. I turned off the lights and the electric fan. I needed to sweat, my husband said. That’s where I slept.
If I could sleep at all. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with the need to blow my nose or with a sore back.
When the sun peeked over the horizon, I crawled back to our bedroom and laid at the foot of our queen-size bed, right on the edge. I surrendered. I admitted I lost to the hard tiled floor.
Well, so much for a fresher new year. My Facebook feed is being so upbeat, full of positivity or people sharing their words for the year. If I did make new year’s resolutions, I would certainly fail at ‘be healthier’.
Anti-social Coughing Club
It’s difficult to be social when I keep coughing, keep drinking water and then keep going to the restroom. Sometimes, I cannot get a full sentence out before my throat itches and fits of coughing would ensue. I would also appear to be choking, which happened while I was having lunch at a birthday party I attended. This nice lady beside me even handed me my glass of water.
I was not yet that sick to be begging off two social engagements one Sunday. Thankfully, the morning was sunny when my husband, my children and I trekked down the sloped gravelly parking lot of the church to participate in a smiley-faced boy’s baptism. We hiked back up to our vehicle afterward, with me sweating and gasping for air, and headed to the said birthday party.
The second social engagement was a dinner with my high school friends. It’s a rare, once-a-year gathering of busy individuals; some came back from abroad where work and studies took them.
Mostly I listened, nodded, and smiled through conversations. My cough held me back from laughter and opinions. Also from making my usual choices. After dinner, I had hot tea instead of my usual option: a glass of sweet and creamy frappuccino.
Hard Nights
Somehow, I dread nights. Lying down and sleeping elevate throat itchiness. Just when I’m about to fall asleep, I’d suddenly cough and then I’m awake again. Difficulty in sleeping is, sadly, magnified.
On the day my children’s classes resumed, I only woke up because my daughter shook my leg and said,”‘Bye, mommy! I love you!” And off to school they went, with me looking groggily after their backs, which disappeared out the front door.
That afternoon, as we were doing homework, I enlisted the help of my husband. Together, we explained, rather, translated to our eldest her Filipino assignment. Fits of cough punctuated the sentence I was relaying to her.
I cannot wait for this chapter to end, honestly. Downing glass after glass of warm water, taking a spoonful of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa after meals, popping Strepsils into my mouth, and slurping hot honey-ginger tea plus gulping a big dose of hope are what I am doing to get better. I do not want to resort to antibiotics.
Then, God answered my prayer and He healed me. I am relieved. I am grateful. It’s like a heavy boulder was lifted off my shoulders.
How about you? What’s you Chapter January like? Care to share stories or link to your blog posts?
