Pretty soon, I started getting a tickling sensation deep inside my lungs followed by long uncontrolled coughing jags. This was no allergy but something all too familiar; a mighty old foe who shows up every few years to put me in my place; to help me ponder mortality even more than I already do and to maybe better appreciate what I already have..<\/p>\n
![\"My](\"http:\/\/blog.keloland.com\/lund\/files\/2015\/01\/zzsick.jpg\")
<\/a>My view for the last umpteen days<\/p><\/div>\n
Sounds serious doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Well, I tend to get a little dramatic when I get sick with something I\u2019ve had before and know takes a long time to run its course. Days and nights become interchangeable as I do battle with the evil Mr. Phlegm trying to get him to let go of my windpipe. The only weapons in my arsenal are Vick\u2019s VapoRub, bottles of Robitussin, throat lozenges, liquids a sympathetic wife\u2026oh and the ability to cough. I have coughed till I\u2019m literally blue in the face..coming close to passing out on several occasions. Whenever some of the green phlegm army is eliminated, replacements are at the ready for immediate service at the front. Stomach muscles become sore and eventually every cough brings a sharp pain to the brain that has you searching for the surrender flag. Rest comes more from passing out than going to sleep. Exhausted, I lay there listening to the wheeze as I exhale. Sometimes it sounds like a lonesome coyote howling at the moon; so common out here in the DesertCanyon area. Sometimes it sounds like a single note from a violin..then other notes join in..then more until it becomes that annoying orchestra practice montage before a concert. Then the dreams come..so real and so bizarre. Then a cough jolts me awake and I need to sit up and do battle with the evil Mr. Phlegm for awhile..then, exhausted, fall back on my other side and drift off to the lullaby of out of tune violins coming from my clogging chest cavity.<\/p>\n
After a few days and nights \u00a0of this I began to look like Tim Conway as the Old Man on the Carol Burnett Show..mumbling and shuffling from room to room with hair standing straight up. I was also losing strength and had no appetite at all which is REALLY unusual for me.<\/p>\n
Naturally, I began \u00a0thinking about how my brother Denny had similar symptoms leading up to his demise so It was time to force myself to get better and get out of the condo..either to see a doctor or go shopping. I chose Safeway.<\/p>\n
Although still in a bit of a daze, it did feel good to get out in the sunshine, especially for Linda, who between stints caring for my sorry arse, has about worn out the screen on her NOOK reader..consuming book after book; \u00a0sometimes\u2026but not often enough..sitting outside on the sun drenched patio.<\/p>\n
We took a little spin around this pretty community..went down to the fountain and sat on a bench by the lake like a couple old farts watching birds and retired couples power walking. \u00a0Oh, hey you single guys\u2026lots and lots of lonely wealthy widows down here looking for a man. Must love dogs.<\/p>\n