Continuing our story… If you didn’t catch Part 1, read that first.
I didn’t have much time to mentally process the news because Nia and I were headed to Minnesota the next day for our week-long Christmas visit. You can read about that here if you missed it. Unfortunately, I became infected with an upper respiratory infection two days into the trip. This bummed me out so much because a.) I’d just gotten over my last one three weeks earlier, b.) It was my fifth of the year (and yes, I’m going to get checked out by an ENT later this week), and c.) my wonky immune system means infections linger for anywhere from two to four weeks. Not exactly ideal for someone starting Russian in 10 days. It wasn’t too bad for the remainder of our Minnesota trip (I just wore a mask and distanced myself a bit). However, it took a turn for the worse when we returned to D.C. on the 26th.
There was the usual coughing and congestion that comes with a sinus infection, but this time it was more relentless. Nights were particularly painful. For two weeks straight I woke every one to two hours from coughing fits. Normal sleeping positions weren’t working either, as the post-nasal drip would go into my throat and lead to coughing. I had to get uber-creative, eventually training myself to sleep sitting up against the headboard, or facedown using a bolster under my forehead and pillows under my chest to prop me up (so I could keep my head straight down but still breathe). It was as bad as it sounds. I came up with all sorts of practices to help me get through the night—showers, neti pots, movies, reading—anything to help clear my nose and soothe my mind (as there is definitely a psychological component to coughing—the more you try not to, the more you have to).
I started my new year at Urgent Care, where they prescribed me antibiotics and steroids. The steroids seem to help, but the cough just wouldn’t go away. We tried a chest x-ray but it came back clear, so all that was left was to wait it out. It was the gift that kept giving too, with new symptoms showing up weekly. On week three I pulled a muscle near my upper ribcage from the intensity of my coughing. That was new for me and I was shocked at how painful it was. I found that I needed to double over and brace the area each time I coughed or the pain would overwhelm me and make me lose my breath. It also became painful to lift things and do basic tasks around the house, so that was problematic. Week four I developed tinnitus—a whooshing sound in my ears that came and went—from fluid built-up around the eardrum. I thought I was going to go crazy given how annoying it was, but thank God, it stopped after a few days.
Amidst all this, my Russian class kicked off. I was a mess—sleeping sporadically, obsessing about all the things wrong with me and why this kept happening, all while coughing every two minutes. It began on Tuesday, January 3rd with an in-person orientation at the Foreign Service Institute. I was not in any shape to attend, so I stayed home. By some stroke of luck, the remainder of the week’s classes were online, so I summoned up all my willpower to make it through the five hours of class each day. Thank God for the mute button, as my cough was still going strong.
I promise I’ll write about Russian class in my next post, but thought it important to give you some context as to my physical and mental state as I started the endeavor.
