Hello everyone,
I am back with an important announcement.
After careful consideration, I have decided not to count January 2024 as part of my life. However the same can be said about my academic years but I am past that.
All of this is because I have spent the entire month of January 2024 doing one thing and one thing only. Coughing. And coughing. And some more coughing.
The New Year gift that I got from the world is viral fever and cough. Yay!!! Great start. I had been sick the entire month and was bedridden for almost 15 days. Joined the office only to Work From Home after that only to realise that I should stay down. And the treatment was no fun. I was going through a ton of home remedies. And I was a Lab rat for the people to try their remedies on me.
One guy suggested that I should add pepper power to almost everything I eat, the hotness of pepper will clear out any congestion in the throat. It kind of worked but on the wrong organ. Hahn, my stomach. Then came the suggestion of tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, spiced-up tea, herbal tea and a million other Teas. So much so tea, that I lost count. Then came the wonderful Kadha, a lovely herbal soup. Tastes so bad, that I wanted to leave everything and move to the Himalayas. But wouldn’t be a good option, I barely managed Chennai’s, (There is no winter in Chennai. Winter in Chennai is just summer with the outside temp around 26-28C.) The Himalayas would just kill me faster than the cough. One guy suggested a brilliant thing to have Betel Leaves with some honey applied on the greener side crushed peppercorns and cumin seeds. I am to chew that slowly and swallow it. (Basically a Paan without the tobacco.) I tried, liked it and now I am addicted to Paan. Oh!!, BTW cough was still chilling. Zero Impact. Another nice fellow suggested deep breathing exercises. I tried that night and almost collapsed. So Nope!!. After trying whatever was available in the Kitchen. I decided it was time to meet the doctor.
So, the first one I met was a new doctor from a nearby clinic who after hearing about my condition gave me paracetamol and charged INR 300. I thanked him and we to an experienced one. This time the doc gave me paracetamol a different brand and cough syrup and asked me to see him in 2 days. I paid for the fee and meds. And went after two days to tell him that he suck and the meds were bogus. Or I wanted to say that but couldn't because.. Cough. After seeing the doctor showed some sympathy and gave me stronger and more brutal meds. They were the zombie meds. I was numb and exhausted by the end of the course. Oh!! Yeah, he did order some blood tests. They showed that I had a cough. In the next visit, the doc was humble enough to admit his defeat and asked me to go see a pulmonologist. I didn't even know what a Pulmonologist was so I googled and it said ‘Lung Doctor’. Good enough so I went to see one and understood that a pulmonologist is a doctor who charges more for putting a stethoscope on your chest and says hmmm… hmmm again and again. Although being a specialist he did ask me if I smoke, And my proud ass replied ‘No’ along with the struggle of my quitting. The doc was decent enough to listen to my boring story meanwhile scribbling all the medicines on the notepad that he can think of. He gave me a paper with something written in doctors instructed me to go see the pharmacist. Yay!! More drugs. The pharmacist was extra nice as I was keeping her from logging off her shift. She was in a hurry and but she still stopped and explained everything in a very clear, fluent and fast Tamil. A language that I don't speak. (I do, I now can order Idly and Sambar from the restaurant and ask for a bill too, But it is nowhere near the level that I can understand the schedule and how to use an inhaler.) So I asked her to repeat it in English and she replied morning, night, morning, morning, and night while tossing the tablet strips on the counter like a card dealer. And she ended it with the Inhaler. She went, “Open, Put, Press, Breathe, Ok vaa??”
To make things great, I forgot to carry cash. And Asked if they accept cards. It is funny, she gave me that same look that my subordinates usually give when I remind them of the pending things whenever they are trying to sign off. So I paid for the meds, even though it felt like I was paying that hospital Electricity Bill.
I am not sure if it was the Meds or the Medical Bill, but my cough has gone down and I can talk even though I sound like Bane from The Dark Knight I am happy that I can talk. The throat pain is not much, but still, the cough is there. And my next appointment is on Tuesday eve.
Till then Cough, I guess.
This is Inuke, And at this point, I am just too tired of this cough.
But it's ok, Nothing lasts forever and this too shall pass.
I thank you for sticking around and reading the sickness-inducing post.
Hoping to return soon, Healed.
I would like to thank IU and Beawesome for their love and support through these cough times. ;-)
