The Spring Semester Quincy

the quincy - n. an archaic medical term generally referring to a form of tonsillitis, but one which the author uses frequently to allude to any head or chest cold or any other minor medical disruption to her relative health

Being sick is a hard business, but of course it is a tribulation some are called upon to bear. Every time I feel that scratchy sensation in my throat I come up with all sorts solutions to the problem. Certainly a two-hour workout would break it. Or perhaps all the Emergen-C in the immediate vicinity? Either way, nothing ever works because when a cold gets it in its mind that it will commandeer your immune system, there is no stopping it. Colds are quite strong-willed.

When I felt that familiar tingle this past week, I knew I didn't stand a chance. Granted I've had worse colds than this one at present, but feeling even mildly ill puts me in the worst of spirits. I have been all sorts of sulky and whiny and prone to let myself watch hours of Star Trek and Doctor Who rather than do my homework. I've been drinking orange juice by the jug. Wearing my warm, woolly hiking socks and baggy sweats more often than I am sure is acceptable.

To top it all off, last night I had a nightmare about a camel stampede (brought about by the novel I'm reading about a group of Pakistani camel herders) which initiated a violent fit of coughing. But thanks to being heavily under the influence of NyQuil, I was still half asleep while I dreamt/lived out the nightmare of suffocation and death by camels. Eventually I did wake up, and it was one of those cliche scenarios that only happens in novels when the main character wakes up from a traumatic nightmare drenched in sweat.

But this too shall pass.