A visit to “Pain Country”

In our northern hemisphere, August is the preferred time to go on a vacation. Some of us travel to the National Parks, go visit family on either coasts, some make that long-time planned trip to Paris. As for me, I got a ticket to Covid Country, a place I had never been before. 

Actually, it’s my daughter who indirectly got me the ticket after she came to visit us last month. She got it first upon her arrival, passed it to her Mom, and about 10 days later, as I was gloating, I was a real macho, strong and impervious to that type of problem, that it sneaked into my body. 

Since my two ladies had a rather mild case of it, I first thought it would like a walk in the park, but soon, it became much nastier than what either of them had experienced. All my chest was pretty much paralyzed, my airways filled up with mucus and other indescribable stuff, but worst of all, I had such a terrible sore throat that I could no longer speak. 

On top of that, I suffered sleepless nights and no energy whatsoever. I was in dire straits. What I can say now, is that experiencing pain, discomfort, and suffering has profoundly impacted me, the healthy guy I thought I was. 

The first thing on the list is the huge amount of daily activity I normally perform and even without doing it, I’m more tired and exhausted; go figure! My nights are bad, I don’t want to eat anything. Of course, I’m a bit depressed and much more irritable as my life is no longer fun. I also find it hard to concentrate and do easy things, which frustrates the hell out for me. 

Finally, I’m feeling helpless, out of control and I don’t like it a bit. Over the years, I’ve trained myself to be grateful for being healthy, while I was ignoring how bad it is to be at the other end of that enviable position. When I think about it, though, I realize it was “pretend” or “window dressing”. 

Even though we often pretend it is, it’s impossible to feel the pain others endure. This time, and as soon as I get better, feeling grateful won’t just a nice feeling to have, it will be much more heartfelt!