Cough. Cough. Sniffle. Sneeze.

Tika isn't happy about Fly Season

I got a cold.  It's no fun.  I've been worried about pneumonia, because they told me if I start coughing with a broken rib, that I'd likely not be able to expel the unwanted mucus out and it may settle in my lungs.  That, I can say, would not be fun.

I woke up coughing in the wee hours on Monday morning.  Deep, wet, heavy coughs.  I grabbed a pillow and held it against my right side, but it didn't really help much.  As the morning wore on, and then the day, my throat became all torn up.  

On Tuesday the coughing continued, but now there was a little, shall we say, drizzle?  My nose was beginning to run just a bit.  My son said I needed Mucinex to help thin the mucus, thereby making it easier for me to cough it up or sneeze it out.  Okay, sure, whatever you say.  Just get me something.

Wednesday, and my nose was 90% stuffed.  I was breathing through my mouth.  Colds never stick with me more than a couple of days, and while this was only the third, it seemed like an eternity to me.  I was getting beyond cranky with my family and finally drove myself to town in an effort to find something that would help. I'm sure they were happy to see me go.

By Thursday morning my mood was better, and my nose was functioning at least a little better than it had been the past couple of days.  I had an appointment for an ultrasound to see if there was any damage to the rotator cuff.  Mobility in my arm has been increasing due in part, I'm sure, to the fact that I'm using a horse and a curry comb as part of my personal therapy program.  It hurt like the dickens the first time I reached across in front of my body, holding that curry comb and then dragging it back along the horse's side.  Wow...who knew?  But after a few strokes, my body loosened up a little.  Each movement started stiff, but ended feeling a little better.  I've been doing that every day, haltering, grooming, leading...anything small that doesn't involve weight, but keeps my shoulder moving.  So as it stood, when I went into the tiny room and was handed a robe, I was capable of tying the strings behind me, much to the surprise of the young woman who'd been waiting outside the door to help me.

Later in the afternoon I was to see my regular doctor regarding my cold.  Really, it was likely nothing more, but better safe than sorry, right?  The pharmacist I'd just spoken to had said there were bacterial things floating around right now, and I really didn't want to be fighting off infection on top of everything else.  I was the last appoint of the day, and though the ultrasound folks said it would be 24-48 hours before the results made it to the doc, I opted to ask just the same.

The nurse pulled up the information and told me that it had been referred to the orthopedic surgeon that I'd been referred to.  However, she still had a copy of it which she happily printed up for me.  Of course I don't read medical speak, but I was totally able to make out what it said at the bottom.  I'm unremarkable.  Or at least, my shoulder is.  Hooray!  Not that being unremarkable has always been my goal, but today it quite suited me.  No rotator cuff damage.

Additional news was that there was no additional moisture content settling into my lungs, so the heavy coughing must have done the trick, despite having a broken rib.  Quite good news!

I'm anxious to climb back on a horse.   To once again start Chasing Dreams...