I was smart this year. We made sure we were asleep by 1am every morning, we didn’t get shitty each night, and we even ate better than we have ever done before. I was sure I got out of SxSW without coming down with a cold. It would be the first time in five years, but I was feeling good when we boarded the plane in Austin.
Three days later…it all kicked in. And it kicked hard.
Week one was filled with the typical Mucinex cocktail (part Sudafed, part Mucinex with a heavy side of Echinacea tea).
Week two came along and I wasn’t feel even the slightest bit better. It hurt when I took a breath, the pressure in my sinuses would not let up and I couldn’t get any sleep as the minute I laid down I would get into coughing fits that felt like my lungs were ripping apart. I paid a visit to the doctor and after listening to my lungs and feeling confident it was just a cold, I was told there was not much more I could do but to try and rest.
So I did. Totally out of character as sitting still for too long drives me nuts, but I knew this time was different, and with so many people I knew down with this crap, I didn’t want to take a chance of it lasting for weeks. I kept ‘hacking up a lung’, I consumed more chicken noodle soup than I thought possible and I rested.
Week three came and it was still hanging tough. Then I got what I thought was pink eye, so I went back in to see the doctor.
He listened to my breathing again, and this time, sent me home with a prescription for cough syrup, an inhaler and recommended special eye drops as it wasn’t pink eye, but the cold showing itself in a different body part. Odd. Those three items combined with more rest, chicken noodle soup and Sudafed finally did their trick and at the top of week four, I was finally feeling better.
It took another week for the cough to completely go away, but at least I was able to sleep and I was finally getting my energy back.
Not sure what else we can do differently to avoid getting sick after SxSW, except maybe not go to SxSW. Always an option I guess.
