Sometimes "situation normal" should be challenged

[hrj]

For decades I've had a fairly standard pattern that my head/ chest colds take (also applies to allergies, since it can be hard to distinguish them from symptoms). Part of that is having lung congestion linger on for a week or two after I'm otherwise feeling better. So when I got my standard early March "is this allergies or a cold?" thing and it seemed to be kept manageable by throwing over the counter medicine at it (I use the same drugs for both colds and allergies, which is nicely efficient), it took me a while to get impatient with the lingering cough and phlegm. In fact, if it had just been the lingering cough and phlegm I would have stayed patient, but after two weeks I still had swollen lymph nodes and a "tight" throat.

After hemming and hawing for a day, I sheepishly called the Kaiser advice nurse and said, "Look I think this is just a standard lingering cough but it feels a little different and I thought maybe it was time to check in." The upshot was that I got a phone consult with a doctor who phoned in a prescription for antibiotics. Huh. So is this a "this will make the patient happy" prescription? Or can they actually diagnose a secondary bacterial infection purely over the phone? I was dubious, but you know what? It worked. Last antibiotic pill this morning and the throat has been feeling fine for two days. And though I still have a little wheezing, it's nothing lke what I was horking up last Friday. So. Maybe I need to add the potential for colds to turn bacterial into my understanding of my normal bodily workings. Mostly my body doesn't give me much grief, but in part that's because we talk to each other regularly. I wasn't quite listening hard enough this time.

And, yes, I know I haven't been posting much here other than on the rss feed from my Alpennia blog (which has also been a bit skimpy). I'm in one of those periods where I feel like I'm scrambling to get a bit ahead on all the routine projects (the LHMP blog, the podcast, reviews, my minor routine writing projects) so that I can tackle the bigger stuff. And the bigger stuff keeps not getting tackled. But I'm doing a bunch of groundwork/networking tasks that will bear fruit eventually. Everything in its time.

Comments

[life_of_glamour]

I’m glad you’re feeling better. Cathyn has had that happen to him - often when he gets a cold it will settle into his lungs afterwards and his doc will prescribe anti-biotics which cure it.

[hrj]

It just hasn't been part of my repertoire before -- who knows how many "lingering coughs" should have gotten more attention. But I've always been very proud of the robustness of my immune system.

[catherineldf]

Hope you feel better soon!

[hrj]

It was clearly working within two days. Now I just need to recalibrate on when I need to escalate in the future.

[rosefox]

"This cold has gone on longer than usual for me, my throat is tight, and my cough is still productive" is sufficient cause for antibiotics, especially if you were coughing up yellow gunk. I'm glad you got the meds you needed!

[hrj]

Now see, I've always heard "clear or yellow is ok and normal, only worry if it's green or brown." And people always ask if I have a fever...but I almost *never* have a fever, even when I'm clearly sick. Bodies are weird.

[rosefox]

For me, at least, egg yolk yellow is a sign of infection. Everyone's different!

[hairmonger]

My colds regularly turn into bacterial sinus infections, so I assure you they can diagnose it over the phone. Luckily I only get colds every two or three years.

Mary Anne in Kentucky