I am really quite fascinated by the newfound vulnerability that comes with the subtle effects of aging when it comes to colds. Suddenly finding out that they canât power through a cold like they used to, but have to stay in instead, sipping tea and nursing themself back to health, all quiet and pale and red-nosed. They donât perhaps catch more colds before, but they last longer than they used to, itâs so damnably hard to get over one these days, and they keep forgetting it when healthy, so every time it comes as a mild shock. And they do need to stay in and nurse that cold, lest they develop some sort of secondary infection, in the sinuses or the lungs, now those will knock them off for extra couple of weeks and itâs horrible. And it keeps happening nevertheless, truly a cold is so much more of an ordeal nowadays than it used to be. And then they feel somewhat self-conscious about having to book a doctorâs appointment for something that started as mere sniffles, it really drives the point home, it didnât use to be like this.Â
And perhaps they pull a muscle when sneezing or coughing too hard, and after that every sneeze is followed by teary-eyed cussing. They havenât bothered to take their temperature, but they feel feverish, faint, and with the slightest exertion their heart starts pounding so hard they have to go lie down. Was it always like this? Did their head always get this heavy and congested with a cold? The smallest effort leaves them panting. Did it always go on and on like this? Surely not. And the cough didnât linger as long, and neither did the weakness and chills. Before the cold was over when it was over, but now they spend such a long time being on the mend, not quite 100%. It all makes them a bit emotional, and perhaps thatâs aging too, becoming so soft. Not as young as they used to be. Have to take care, give oneself time, let the cold run itâs course without harrying it, for that is likely to lead into a disaster.
