Skip to main content

It's As If I've Been Punched

I don't have the flu anymore, but I have had a lingering cough. A week or so ago, in the midst of the coughing, I pulled something like a muscle. Or I broke something like a rib. Whatever happened, it hurts.

It hurts when my cat Tiger puts a paw on my sternum. It hurts when I clear my throat. It hurts if I cough even slightly. It hurts if I hiccup or get in and out of a car or pick up something heavier than a cup of coffee. And God help me, it hurts if I sneeze.

Like anybody who doesn't like going to doctors, I turned to the Internet for a diagnosis, and I found all sorts of people asking for help from cough injuries. Apparently it's common to hurt yourself while coughing, which makes me wonder if we're all just doing it wrong. Maybe there is correct posture and incorrect posture for it, and those of us in the wrong position break our bones or pull a tendon.

The consensus online is that you're screwed. Once you break a rib or pull a muscle or damage the connective tissue in that general area, all you can do is wait it out, and it could take weeks to heal. You have to hold a pillow when you feel a cough of sneeze coming on, and you have to take Advil for occasions when you, say, play a French horn.

I called an actual doctor and talked to the nurse about the whole thing, and she said exactly what I read on the Internet, including the fact the doctor couldn't help me, so there's no point in coming in for a visit. So, here I sit, clutching a pillow and popping Advil and enjoying that rare deep breath that doesn't come with pain.

Comments

kyle@sift said…
Once when my dad was ill my mom bought him a big blue whale stuffy he could hold while he coughed. It helped a great deal. Francesca still plays with that old blue whale. Feel better soon!
9:19 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
I know how you feel, Robyn. I have to be in a 'proper' position to cough too, otherwise that can happen, or my back can go. Eek. Feel better soon x
2:42 PM
Shan said…
Well, I hope it's easing up since it has been a few more days since you posted about the rib pain. You were dreadfully sick and the recovery is lingering too! Sorry Robyn!!
I'm trying not to get cocky so early in the game about not having the flu, because sure as I do...BAM. :) I don't get flu shots. I just don't trust those suckers for some reason. I hope we all make it through this porker of a winter in all the ways that it relates to piggish symptoms. If I don't get this Halloween candy out of my site line my waistline will go that way first!
11:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right Brain Dominant

I am reading A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future , by Daniel H. Pink. I wouldn't have chosen this book had I been book hunting because I lean toward fiction—it was a gift from someone who, like me, is right-brain dominate. I haven't gotten very far, just far enough to learn that in Hippocrates' day, the left side of the brain was considered the true source of thought, the thing that separated us from the animals and made us human. It was the source of reason and logic. The right side was considered a useless left over, a parasite. Now we know that both sides of our brains are equally important and equally involved in our daily thoughts and functions. But some of us do seem to be governed by one side more strongly than the other. Me, sometimes I think the left side of my brain has completely atrophied, that the right side governs everything. But I am learning that I don't give that other side enough credit, that logical mathy side. As I read on ab...
12 comments
Read more

Ish People

Tell an Ish person to show up around 9 a.m., and you'll see them somewhere around 9 a.m. Tell them to show up at 9ish, and you'll see them anywhere from 9:05 to 9:20. You have given them license to dilly dally, and who wouldn't take advantage of that? The other night at the big shindig dinner party, one of the drummers said the rehearsal the next morning would begin at 9ish. "I am an ish person," he says. Immediately the clanker goes off in my head--oh, good, I thought. I can deliver my daughter a little late. No Ish person is early, so if you say 9ish, that does not mean give or take 5, 10, 15 minutes. It's exclusively a taking phrase. Take an extra 10 minutes to drink your cup of coffee. We won't mind. We're Ish people. Sunday's rehearsal started at 2:00. Because it was conducted by the same people who conducted the Saturday rehearsal, my understanding was 2-ISH. My daughter is worse than I am about taking liberties with Ish time frames, so she d...
14 comments
Read more

Everybody Needs A Little Crème Brûlée

I went out to dinner with some friends the other evening and ordered crème brûlée for dessert. It was lovely—crispy sugar crust and creamy custard underneath. I'm a bit of crème brûlée fan and order it more often than I order any other restaurant dessert, which is not to say I always order dessert—only now and then. On my way home, I remembered I had a crème brûlée kit at home with ramekins, a torch, and a basic recipe. I love the torch. So, now I have made my favorite dessert at home, and I recommend that everyone have crème brûlée. It makes the world better. I used the recipe on the box, which was simple and basic. My only suggestion for improvement is to use less sugar for the caramelized crust. It was so thick, it was like chipping away at glass. An ice pick would have come in handy, or a diamond. Other recipes suggest 1/4 cup to be divided among six ramekins, making just over 1 tablespoon per serving. Crème Brûlée serves 4 1 cup heavy cream 2 extra large egg yolks (I used 3 re...
14 comments
Read more