Illness

Roughly once a year, my immune decides that it's had enough, and decides to punish me by giving me a rather bad cold which lasts about a week and a half. every couple of years it decides to REALLY spite me, and I end up with some horrible illness such as tonsilitis in conjunction with bronchitis, and then I have to take a couple of weeks off school to recover. But that hasn't happened since year six.

Luckily.

Unfortunately, I am in the midst of my annual cold. Having progressed past the foreboding stage (when the symptoms haven't started as yet, but I know they're about to) into the sore throat stage (which is reasonably self explanitory), I then entered the congested phase (where my sinuses decide to hold a revolution) which has now moved into the final (and most painful) stage of continual coughing.

In this part of my cold, my diaphragm decides that it has epilepsy, and thus does its best to empty my lungs of air as quickly, as often and as forcefully as it possibly can.

Since I swim, sing and play tuba, my diaphragm is reasonably good at its job. Which makes it irritating when it spends all of its time expelling the two litres of air I inhaled in a space of time significantly less than a second. It's also painful when this is what's been happening for the past 24 hours.

This phase of cold also means that should I do anything which necessitates me inhaling quickly, my diaphragm takes offence. Which is irritating in the fact that it means that I can't practice the music I need to memorise in time for the ANZAC day march. But it also allows me to empathise with people who have chronic respiratory disorders.

The whole concept of being unable to engage in activities which necessitate good breath control and lung capacity seems rather horrible.

For example, of all the extra-curricular activities I engage in, were I to develop a respiratory condition, the only ones I would be able to continue with any measure of proficiency would be debating and public speaking, because they merely involve talking.

So to all those people out there with asthma, people with any variety of silicosis, and to the rather smaller group of people out there who have emphysema which didn't occur as a result of smoking: I salute you. I just never intend to join your ranks.