Slow it down

The summer of 2024 was fast. A blur. It was filled with the normal things like sleeping in, family reunions, vacations, and hours of swimming and watching movies. But for me, the most memorable part of it was my cough.

Unbelievably, I wrote that correctly.

I coughed through the entire summer. In fact, I’m still coughing now. As unpleasant as it is, I have learned a great lesson through all my incessant, bladder-stimulating, sleep-preventing, vomit-inducing, breath-catching coughing fits.

Sometimes, you have to slow down.

A LOT.

It was the middle of June, and Brian and I were on a flight to Europe with two of our daughters. I was highly anticipating this vacation as it was combining two of my favorite things—sightseeing and dancing! I knew it would be an amazing trip, and it was. But a few days into it, I began coughing. I didn’t feel sick at all, and had no other symptoms. Just a lot of coughing.

After a week of coughing pretty consistently, I began exhibiting other symptoms like congestion and fatigue. The coughing was definitely worse at night, which was good for everyone else on the trip, but bad for my husband. Coughing all night made sleeping nearly impossible, or so it felt—probably to me and Brian. I woke up more and more exhausted each day. However, the days were planned well in advance, so I kept chugging along with the group. I always had a good supply of tissue, cough drops, medicine, and hope. I just knew I would feel better tomorrow.

Always tomorrow.

The last several days of our vacation were rough. My coughing fits would wake me up at all hours, and I couldn’t catch a breath. In total darkness of night, I desperately gasped for air, then would cough so hard I would vomit. It was unreal. I’d never been sick like this before.

When we boarded our flight home, I was ready. I wanted to get home. I wanted to feel better and STOP COUGHING.

Home did offer my own bed and other comforts, but my illness did not let up. I continued to cough, throw up, and gasp for breath. Rinse and repeat. After a few more days, and a google search 😜, I diagnosed myself with whooping cough. Everything fit. (No, I didn’t have it confirmed at a doctor’s office because I am kind of a honorary doctor, remember??)

I tried to get back into a normal schedule, including going to the gym, but a one time visit confirmed that working out was a bad idea. I coughed and coughed until I peed. My abdominals were on fire from all the coughing, and I wondered if I could give myself a hernia? Everything seemed plausible at this point. I left the gym and went home.

Normally a morning person, I was finding it impossible to get out of bed. Getting dressed made me tired and winded. I didn’t recognize myself at all.

I had to slow down.

If I made dinner at all, it was things like quesadillas and sandwiches. I stretched leftovers beyond their typical limits. I slept in and went to bed earlier than normal. I took naps as much as I could. I stopped doing any kind of work out. Sometimes I just sat on the couch and did…nothing.

Slowing down was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I was constantly frustrated—no, angry—at how little I was doing. But I couldn’t do more.

Sigh.

Two and a half months have gone by, and I am still coughing, but not as frequently. I am sleeping at night again, and I haven’t coughed to the point of throwing up for about a month, thank goodness. I am SLOWLY recovering. And I mean S.L.O.W.

We live in a world of fast. Everything is quick, hustle, hurry it up, stop wasting time! Because my husband is an orthopedic surgeon, he sees a lot of injuries from all kinds of sports. Everyone wants a quick fix.

“Is there a brace for that? Let’s do the fastest thing so he can get back out there! We have practice tomorrow!”

Unfortunately, people often roll their eyes when the medical advice is rest. You need to rest. Did you just roll your eyes?? 🙄 What is our hesitancy? Do we believe that healing is instant? Have we decided that we have no time to spare? Does slowing down feel like giving up in such a fast-paced world? Will life pass us by if we have to rest for a while?

Well, if you are answering yes to those questions, I think you should reconsider. In order to heal from any malady, whether it is physical injury, mental anguish, or emotional pain—resting is going to be a part of the process.

Slow it down.