So, Russ, Whatever came of that cold?

Good Morning all:

For those who celebrate a holiday at this time of year, Happy Holiday (assuming you celebrate only one of them)! If you don't celebrate anything at all well, I hope you enjoyed time off of work or at least enjoyed the time in the office when the rest of your co-workers were away.

Just a quick update on the cold, where I spent Christmas, etc. Since my Tuesday post my cold improved. To me this seems improbable since my White Blood Cell counts have not yet returned as of Wednesday. Tuesday was, by far, my worst day. My post from the hospital that day (seems there was some confusion, I was treated as an outpatient that day) was one of the brief moments where I was awake during the 24 hours that the calendar named December 23rd. I actually typed the post while lying on my side, using the hunt-and-peck method! I dozed off several times at Hopkins, upon returning home I went straight to bed and pretty much stayed there until the following morning and it seemed like my fever broke several times during the evening.

The 24th was better. My cold had actually moved down on the 'Chief Complaint' list behind a couple of mouth sores, one on my tongue in particular, that was causing me some discomfort while eating. Again, had an appointment at Hopkins on the 24th. I am treated as a plague carrier up there now and am not ALLOWED to linger in the waiting room with other patients. I am to announce my presence to the nurses when I arrive for outpatient appointments so that they can quickly remove me from the ranks of the undefiled! The good news is that all the cultures taken from this cold have been negative. No positive cultures have grown for influenza or RSV or Ebola, Scarlet Fever, Whooping Cough, Anthrax or any other cultures I can imagine they might be testing for up there in Baltimore. So with nothing to indicate that it was anything more sinister we are left to assume it was a simple cold unworthy of a name or the energy to achieve a positive identification.

I felt pretty good on the 24th though the nose continued to run. This marked the third day of a three day facial tissue bender. I was using at least a box a day. It didn't matter the variety. I'd use ones with aloe, anti-viral, even generic varieties couldn't escape my insatiable need for tissues.

Marla and I had agreed some time ago that going to a Children's Christmas Eve service was probably not in the cards for me this year. Instead I got to really cook up a good meal for the family. I cooked a special Christmas Eve dinner for the family while they attended our traditional service. Marla and I enjoyed a nice grilled Delmonico steak from the dutch market while the kids got one of their favorites--popcorn shrimp packaged and frozen by SeaPak (we don't normally cook two main dishes so this was truly a special occasion for them since neither are convinced yet that they like steak). I also made Ratatouille and a new recipe for me, Hot German Potato Salad--a sweet and sour warm potato dish. This last was supposed to be made in a crockpot but I sort of adapated it for baking and went with it. It all came together as Marla and the kids got home and I found that I could eat it with little discomfort from the sores in my mouth. We frittered away the evening and went to bed with sugar plums dancing in our heads.

I awoke Christmas morning and my head felt the sugar plums might have had a bit too much time of it. But, as I got up and around (no rest for the weary on Christmas morning) I found that my head started to clear and my nose wasn't running! I pretty much went all day without a sneeze and had a great time around Marla and the kids, my parents and brother, and some of my extended family from Pennsylvania. Without the aid of even remotely normal White Blood Cell counts I beat a cold in time for Christmas! Not exactly the stuff of legend or even the basis for a cheery holiday special but, man, it felt good to feel like normal. I can only imagine how down-and-out I would have felt if my little cold had actually been the flu.

Again, I hope everyone had a good holiday and for those whose time off continues, enjoy that too!

--Russ.