Got a bit of a cold... Pt 1

FOR POSTERITY

Friday 22 April: I could feel it coming on from Thursday night to Friday morning - the first symptom being a tickle on the roof of the mouth - the palate; unmistakable. I could not remove it by the power of mind. A cold was definitely on its way... Friday I went into town to meet a member (as well as excellent fish-and-chips lunch, an added benefit was the gift of a hooded sweatshirt - my first since student days). Getting home, I checked my temperature, it was 36.3C. I was sure that the cold virus was spreading. No alcohol, 9.4K paces, no press-ups or sit-ups, all other exercises done. Sauna.

Saturday 23 April: Woke up feeling slightly bunged up, a tiredness in the backbone, slightly shivery, otherwise OK. Temperature 36.1C. Crap weather, no walk. Full set of exercises. Zero alcohol, plenty of tea (0.6l glass, strong black tea with lime and honey, three of these a day). Sauna. Comfortable sleep

Sunday 24 April: Third day with cold, blowing nose more frequently, clear nasal secretions. Sneezing more often. Nice weather, so long walk (16K paces). Zero alcohol. Full set of exercises. Another long zoom call with family in UK and Poland re: stuff from my father's house (what stays and what's shipped to Poland). Temperature 36.6C. In bed by 22:30. Nightmare (about the civilians trapped in the Mariupol bunker) during the wee hours. Not a good night.

Monday 25 April: Working week starts. Nasal secretions still clear and watery. Will I be well enough to go to Poznań on Thursday? Meeting has already been postponed once... Temperature 36.1C. No Covid symptoms. Very slightly shivery. Taste and smell normal. Busy day work-wise; no time for walk even if I did feel OK, which I don't - that spinal achiness still there. Four sets of exercises (no sit-ups, planks or back extensions). No alcohol. Go to bed at 23:10 - too late.

Tuesday 26 April: Fifth day, I still do not feel that the cold is developing as it should. This ought to be the 'hump', after which the process of convalescence can begin - but no. Congested, runny nose, first symptoms that it's in the lungs (infrequent cough). Suppressing the cough by breathing in and holding a lungful of air for 15-20 seconds. Works well. Temperature 36.4C. No walk, only felt like doing two sets of exercises (squats and a few press-ups). Sauna. No alcohol. Sprinkle a few drops of Amol on my pillow. Bliss! Better than Vicks or Karvol. Love the smell, warming on the skin.

Wednesday 27 April: Good sleep (a sauna helps - I wake for a wee but once in the night - at 04:20 - rather than two or three times - bucket-loads of lime tea sweated out through the pores). I blow my nose - it continues to run clear. No way can I travel to Poznań tomorrow - I cancel. Busy day - TV appearance (online); opening and closing a webinar, and monthly board meeting online. No walk once again, no alcohol. No exercise (only the third time this year). The sixth day passes. The old line about a cold taking a week to get over treated or seven days if left untreated isn't quite right - for me it's usually ten days end to end, more than a week but less than a fortnight. In my 20s and 30s, my colds would pass leaving a dry cough that would last into the summer, but damp English climate to blame there. A lot of exercise going undone.

How will this cold resolve? Gone by next Monday? I genuinely thought last Friday that by today it would be on the wane and by tomorrow I'd be fine to go to Poznań. The weather forecast suggests sunny intervals and temperatures into the high teens for the next few days, but I still don't feel right enough to want to go for a long walk. I'm really looking forward to waking up and blowing out a noseful of thick green gunge - dead viruses and other detritus - which means the cold is beginning to go away. 

Being ill means suffering disease - dis ease, as opposed to ease. Discomfort that encroaches the consciousness. When aches and pains intrude upon your stream of consciousness and force their way into your train of thought. Has it been that bad? Not at all - I've had worse in recent years. This post is not written in self-pity, rather as a marker for the future.

This time last year:
Moon and bloom

This time four years ago:

The working week in town, in pics

This time six years ago:
Brexit: head vs heart, migration vs economy

This time seven years ago:
Golf course update

This time ten years ago:
The Shard changes London's skyline

This time 11 years ago:
In praise of Warsaw's trams

This time 12 years ago:
Plans for the railway line to Radom

[12 years on, the modernisation of a line it took 20 months to build, is complete]