What To Do When You Are Sick

Curses. It announced its presence on Saturday morning, around 2:30 when I got up to take Dogzilla out to pee. That sinusy drainage feeling high up in the back of my throat. I've avoided everyone's germs so far, but now I've got whatever the vague upper respiratory bug is that is making the rounds at work. So this is what I do to make myself better and to try to ward off a trip to the doctor.

1. Get plenty of rest. There is no substitute for this, IMHO, so nap often. Especially if you can do so with a beagle curled up behind your knees and his little head resting on your leg to keep an eye on the rest of the world.
2. Drink plenty of liquids. Lots of tea and lemon-lime soda or ginger ale and water. Orange juice if you can tolerate it. A nice hot cup of water with honey, lemon and little whisky never hurt anyone either when they had an upper respiratory infection.
3. Get those soft tissues with lotion on them. Your nose will thank you.
4. Find a nice steamy bathroom or a sauna a couple times a day to get the nasal passages open. Sleep with a vaporizer running at night.
5. If your boss says you may go home early, then go home early. Don't be a hero.
6. Let the dishes go, let the vacuuming go, drop the social calendar back a notch. You can catch up on everything when you are actually feeling better. And people will probably appreciate it if you don't show up at the candle party spreading your germs and contagion.
7. Chicken soup. I don't care what cuisine or culture you are from, there's a comforting chicken soup there somewhere. Heck, branch out and try several kinds of chicken soup. They'll all make you feel better. At a bare minimum, buy a big can of chicken broth and some noodles. You'll feel better for it.
8. Before you nod off, engage in some positive imagery. Imagine yourself bathed in a healing green light. Imagine yourself feeling better. Imagine the germs being chased out of you. Whatever works. The mind is a very powerful thing and it can give the old immune system a nice boost.
9. Go ahead and watch the Jerry Springer Show. Or Judge Judy. You know you want to. What better excuse than to claim that you only saw it because you were too weak to change the channel.
10. If you've already got the shower running to steam up the bathroom, go ahead and hop in there and wash your hair and feel clean again. Lying around like a slug can make you feel really grungy, so a little soap and water can provide some very nice TLC. Get some of that lavender baby bath that Johnson & Johnson make when you lay in your sick supplies. I don't usually like lavender all that much, but this is actually very relaxing, which is what lavender is supposed to do.

Those are all the things that I do when I have a cold. Actually, I've found that if I start doing some of them the moment I feel a bug coming on, the bug doesn't last as long or incapacitate me. Of course, I am a big advocate of frequent hand-washing and using that sanitizer gel when you can't get to the soap and water to prevent catching a cold. I've worked with the general public for three years now, and can't remember the last time I was really sick with anything for more than a few days, so I'll continue to keep on doing what I do. Of course, I always advocate getting proper rest and eating right most of the time as ways to help prevent catching and spreading the common cold, too!

Okay. Off to get another cup of tea and see what they are doing over at Food TV.