A rhino virus named Attila-the Hun

Eighteen days ago, I slipped and fell on the ice blanketed snow while meandering around in my back yard.  While I did suffer an immediate headache and some discomfort of my thoracic spine, nothing more serious ensued.  I mention it only as a point of reference leading up to my “catching “a head cold.

I take good care of myself; exercising, eating nutritiously, and getting sufficient rest.  To wit, this recent cold is the first I’ve suffered in a year.  I work in a hospital and have young grandchildren whom I visit regularly.  I’m exposed to some of the over 200 varieties of cold viruses daily but my immune system usually fights them off efficiently.  Keeping one’s immune system in top working order requires that it be stimulated regularly.  Moderate exercise is one way to help strengthen your immune system, and limited exposure to diseases; vaccinations serve this purpose well.

I’m surmising that the fall mentioned above stressed my immune system sufficiently to give any viruses I’d been exposed to a chance to gain a foot hold and begin to breed.  However, my symptoms never seemed to measure up to a full blown head cold.  Niggling, I referred to my symptoms as niggling.  The virus seemed to shop around for a good place to set up housekeeping, but never really found a hospitable home.  First I had some increased secretions in one nostril, really so minimal as to be considered insignificant.  This was followed by a mild bout of throat scratchiness, some trachea irritation and a nagging cough.  These symptoms remained in their minor irritations for 17 days.  I continued to live my life and follow my routines as usual; exercising, running, walking to work, etc. etc..

Then yesterday this sniggling “Attila-the-Hun” of rhino viruses smacked me up side of my head with maximum payload.  I felt like a kid when my father gave me a slap upside the head from out of nowhere, just because he thought I needed it.  I assaulted it with an entire armamentarium of products to alleviate the symptoms invoke by this monster.  Yet it fought back with a vengeance causing me to spend the night coughing, hacking, snotting, blowing, spitting and in wonder at the amount of secretions my immune system could produce in trying to rid itself of this marauder.

I was pleased to read, upon investigation of literature pertaining to the “common cold,” that the symptoms can last for up to three weeks with a persistent cough lasting longer.

Here’s to a Happy New Year, and a strengthened immune system.

BTW, everyone in the OR has this virus, so quite whining Bob and just suck it up buttercup.