Tuesday, June 3
I was sick just three months ago! What’s going on?? I believe when we fall to illness it’s a sign that something’s wrong.
I once read that when you have a sore throat it’s your body subconsciously responding to withholding something you need to tell someone, or when you’re not feeling like you’re being heard, and your throat is holding what’s backed up, literally what’s unsaid, and your immune system reacts to it the same way it would attack an allergen or toxin that enters your body. There was a term for it, that’s slipping my mind…
There are many health challenges for those living with an autoimmune disease. You’re more at risk for getting sick. I haven’t been taking my one-a-day vitamins, I really haven’t been getting enough sleep each night, and I haven’t been taking my other immune enhancing supplements, like my probiotics. What’s worse, I have been stressed. Put all those variables together and I should not be surprised that I got sick. Clearly, I need to get balanced.
I never went to sleep last night. It was probably one of the worst nights of my life! I continued to get so congested that my whole face, jaw and teeth hurt! I couldn’t get comfortable and it’s just impossible for me to sleep when I cannot breathe. I began to feel like I was suffocating. What could that mean? I mean, if a sore throat is the result of not able to say what you want to say, then does suffocating mean you couldn’t reach your prana* in yoga class? (*prana is sanscrit for “breath” and is similar to “chi” in Chinese – it’s the life energy that runs through all things).
Anyway. I kept getting up to drink water, then to go to the bathroom, then to go back to bed, over and over again. Until I called my mother at 4:45 in the morning (it was 7:45 east coast time). I just needed to hear her comforting voice. I don’t do sick very well. I admit I morph into a mamma’s baby. I need to be taken care of, I need the comfort and sympathy. I can’t help it. That’s just me when I’m sick.
But mom didn’t sound super concerned and told me that I should just try to get back to bed, and try to sleep for a couple of hours. So that’s what I did. I tried. And I managed to squeeze in one meager, hazy hour of moderate sleep.
I finally gave up and went downstairs and made myself a nourishing bowl of gluten free oatmeal and a cup of Yogi India Spice tea. I turned on the Today Show and then called a doctor’s office within our insurance network to try to get an appointment. I was still very painfully congested. I administered 45 more drops of the Wellness supplement. It’s important to keep that going. At some point over the course of the wee hours in the morning, I tried out a sample of Nasonex that my allergist gave me. It didn’t do a thing. So I needed some serious relief.
I managed to schedule an appointment for the afternoon, the nurse actually squeezed me in, and then I got to work. I checked email, responsed to a bunch of emails, worked on editing brochure copy, and wrote up a draft for a press release on the winery construction project. I actually got a lot of work done, considering I was feeling like road kill not yet dead.
I eventually left for my doctor’s appointment and headed over to a nearby cake decorating shop to pick up a cake top decoration for a co-worker’s birthday cake. On my way back home I stopped by Safeway and used a gift card my mom had sent me, which was so nice. I bought some essentials, including KleenEx with aloe lotion and cocoa butter cream with vitamin E for my very raw and irritated nose and upper lip – thanks to all the rough tissue I had been using. I also picked up more Riccola losenges. And then more orange juice and fresh cherries.
I had called in an order of chicken pho with rice noodles from Pacific Breeze. I brought it home and enjoyed the super comforting heat and flavors of the soup. And then it was back to work, checking and responding to emails. I took my first antibiotic for my sinus infection.
FREE TIP: I must say the cocoa butter was the best thing I had ever used on a sore, raw nose from too much tissue action! I used to use Nose Better, but it would sting and it was too gooey. The cococa-B plus v-E not only did not sting, but it soothed almost immediately. My face is less red and irritated because of it.
I was slowly opening up, the congestion still there but not quite so bad. And my throat was still sore, but again, not like the night before. I was able to use my neti pot, with salts from the south of France, now that my sinuses were opening up.
Later, I made myself Amy’s Kitchen Tamale Verdi in cheese. I had a few gluten free flax and corn chips. I drank a cup of Matcha green tea with orange blossom honey. I felt like I got an even balance of healthy food and plenty of fluids, sustenance rich in antioxidants, omega 3s, the kind of stuff that boosts your immune system and helps fight inflamation.
But by the evening I was really hot and dazed. I took my temperature and had a 100.8 fever. I only had two Tylenol, which expired in May. I was tired and groggy. I had some fresh cherries and a cherry-raspberry popsickle, which was soothing to my burning, raw throat. I then took three flax seed oil supplements and another dose of Wellness herbal drops.
On the news, Clinton simply stated in her speech tonight that she would make no decisions tonight. She didn’t concede, nor did she indicate whether or not she would accept the Vice Presidential candidate for Obama’s ticket. 18 million votes was pretty amazing. I was proud of her. It wasn’t an easy campaign and she did really well.
I tried to meditate and clear myself a little so that I could get some restorative and much needed sleep.
