Monday 11 July 2022

There has been a very loud dog in the house

 Well, it has certainly sounded like that!

In fact it was David - not covid (we did two tests) but he brought a bad cold back from Taramaki when we were up there for Matariki.

On the Monday night at 11.30pm I said that one of us needed to leave the bed. I was happy to do so, even though I would have to warm up the sleeping bag and sleep either in the motorhome or on the sofa. David volunteered to be the one who departed, which was kind given he was the poorly one - ˜his view was that I had to work the next day, so he would move. And I really did appreciate it. 

His cough was LOUD!!! It really did sound like a very big dog who had been surprised by someone creeping up on him - SHARP, LOUD (did I mention that?), VERY GRUFF. I would just drop off to sleep when the barking would start up again.

So he moved out to the lounge. I did accompany him to take his pillows, find and administer the cold and flu tablets, the cough medicine, a late night lime juice and manuka honey drink, before I headed back to bed and peace, perfect peace of a non-coughing, nonexistent bed companion...

His cold has been persistent with the worst of it being the cough. It was only on Friday, this last week, after 12 nights of couch relegation that he came back to the marital bed.

I had missed him - snuggling is lovely and there had been none of that.

If any of you get this cold with its dreadful cough, my suggestion is to ramp up your paracetamol intake from zero to 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours, imbibe lots of lime/lemon juice and honey drinks, take expectorant cough syrup, and dose up on supplements - at about Day 3 David was feeling very down - cross and miserable because he wasn't getting better. I knew he wasn't too bad, because he never lost his appetite - but I do think that's a feature of male illness... Anyway, I stoked him up on B Vitamins, Vit D, magnesium, zinc, turmeric. And as is his wont, unless I administered them, he would neglect to take them and be a sad-sack in the afternoon. Aaarrrggghhh!!!

We are both being very careful - with the BA.5 variant of covid raising case numbers and with our being in the vulnerable age group, it only makes sense. I am still going in to the office once a week, but am driving so I am not on public transport, and I wear a mask all of the time when I am in the office - except when I am eating...

David is having his second booster on Wednesday and I was scheduled to have mine then too, but I have an all day meeting to attend, so I am having mine next week.

While we are in the grip of winter our two grandsons and their lovely mum are on Santa Lucia in the Carribean. The photos Marta sends are amazing: jet skiing, making pots, watching steel bands, sulphur pools, swimming in the sea, zip-lining. Currently they are having a couple of days in a city and Marta sent photos of the boys with a few others in the swimming pool at their accommodation - lots of jumping from the roof of the cabana. She is a wonderful mother and we treasure her.
Marta and Olek


Olek, Marta and Karol - that backdrop could easily be in the centre of the North Island of NZ ...


2 comments:

Jenny said...

PoorcDavid, I can certainly sympathize I have had an awful cough for two weeks now, burning chest and have spent several nights sitting up on the lazy boy chair to try and get relief. It's still hanging around but slowly easing. We also took a couple of Covid tests but luckily they were clear. Do hope he gets well soon, it's no fun being sick!

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Hi Jenny,
I hope you are getting better faster than just slowly!
The lime/lemon juice and manuka honey drinks plus the panadol and the supplements have really helped restore David's health. So if you have them in the house, take them - or send Robin shopping!
He's decided to sleep in the lounge again tonight - not because of the cough but because he wants to watch the Jan 6th hearings from the US - he knows that watching them in bed could be very disturbing for me, in spite of the fact that I wear a sleep mask. So separated again ...
Big hugs and get well soon! Marilyn