I got permission to be sick!

Last time I went to New York I got bronchitis.  Turns out that is a hard thing to kick and easy to get again – before New York I never had it…

For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been surviving. Mentally and physically forcing myself to overcome what I felt day in and day out: tight chest that made it hard to breath, a terrible-deep-attention-getting-phloemmy cough and stuffed up head (the stuffy head kicked in this week).  Needless to say, I’ve been just a gorgeous mom with dark circles around my eyes and a short fuse.  With Ben is away, who has time to be sick!

During these three weeks, I still managed to go to gym and do 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes of weight training.  Occasionally I would give off that hacking cough, but I thought I was fine, I’m suppose to be short of breath, I’m suppose to be sweating – this is good! Today, I was on the elliptical for 2 minutes and coughed and felt like my head was going to explode.  That’s it, I had enough! I drove straight to the doc-in-box.

I waited for 30 minutes in the lobby and then 30 minutes in the doctors office, in my gym cloths – I’m just stunning . When the doctor finally came in, after I thought I was forgotten about,  she couldn’t believe I’ve been going to the gym like this “contaminating everyone”, I made sure I wiped the machines down and only coughed in my sleeve, not my hand. I even wash my hands when I get home from the gym.

But she said, “So you usually work out during the weekday, including Friday?” – “Yes, unless I have work or family to take care of first, but I try to make time for me too.”

“Well tomorrow, you need to take off and let yourself heal and as for the weekend, you need to take it easy.” She actually raised her eyebrows at me. She was serious.

I didn’t know how to serious until I got the works to resolve it:Steroid shot, the strongest antibiotics they could give, an inhaler to relax my lungs when I get the coughing reflex and a cough syrup that is the strongest they can prescribe (they even required either my SSN or driver’s license).

But the best prescription of all was the one to “accept that you are sick and relax to let your body heal.”

So Friday, after I drop off the kids, I’m going to Atlanta Bread Company for a Hot Spiced Chai as my treat to me! I’m so looking forward to it!