Sunday Soapbox: Sick and Tired
>> Sunday, February 14, 2010
*Steps on soapbox*
I have decided I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's hard to have a scintillating birthday for your excellent husband (who turned 27 on Friday) or a romantic Valentine's day when both of you are hacking and coughing, snorting and sniffling.
Well, I've had it. Surely, we've spent far too long at the beck and call of various viruses. I, for one, have decided that colds are long overdue for a cure, and it can't be done soon enough. Sure, if you're life-threatening, someone will strive for a vaccine. But it's slow going and, truthfully, what about diseases that are generally just seen as inconvenient?
I was out a whole week of work for no better reason than I could hardly do my best with my voice just a croak (I kid you not. My aunt called me yesterday, as I was much recovered, and thought my husband had answered the phone. Nice!) and my brain at a slow crawl.
So, you bright medical types out there, time and past to give these nasty unpleasant bugs the ol' heave ho!
*Steps off soapbox*
Tomorrow I will try to get back to my writing posts.
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I am looking foward to getting you back.
hope you kick this sickness for good, best of luck.
I would just remind you that it's not complacency that keeps colds and flus running around. They both cause a huge loss of productivity, even if they don't threaten your life (and they do threaten life in some cases), so trust me, the research is being done.
Two problems:
1) these damn things mutate faster than you can grow them in a test tube. Vaccines are, therefore, of limited utility. Even for the seasonal flu vaccine, the powers that be take a "guess" at the likely antigenic structures. Not exactly rocket science (sorry).
2) these damn things use our cellular machinery to live and work. That makes them a bit (a lot) like cancer--how do you kill off THEM without killing off YOU?
Massive resources have been dumped into virology since the AIDS crisis--we're working on it. We're working on it. Patience, grasshopper.
When your husband has the worst birthday ever and your baby goes around all week furious because her body is not functioning at it's normal peak performance, it's hard to be patient.
But your points are valid. Nor should I forget that my daughter doesn't face measles or polio or smallpox (all viruses, all potential killers) because of the excellent work by medical practitioners of the past. Admittedly, my son's croup the week before last scared me silly.
I really hate colds because of the medication, I can function with it, but it makes me dizzy. It is like using a stim pack from starcraft. But, DayQuil is the one thing that keeps me going in the winter.
I have no weaned myself off of everything but ibuprofen, which, admittedly, has done the most to help with cough and sinuses despite some heavy duty OTCs. I hope that means I'm on the mend.
I think being able to write a post means you're on the mend. I hate being sick... and it always happens to me after it has already passed through the house. Great that everyone else gets it first, but exhausting to take care of everyone and then be sick myself. Hope you're 100% soon.