Día Cuatro

Today was church and sleep and more sleep. Gratefully, the first Sunday of the month the English speaking missionaries combine for Sunday School and Relief Society so I at least understood that part of church. I did enjoy the testimonies in sacrament meeting. Though their words had no meaning for me, their voices invited a powerful spirit. What an amazing group of people!

Later in the evening, we went to family home evening with the senior missionary couples serving in the area office, mission office, and temple. I struggled physically. Finally, as we were walking home, I asked my dad to amuse me and check my ears. He smiled with a "okay but we probably won't find anything and you just need to rest to get better" look. Lo and behold! Double ear infection. My dad commented after that now he understood my grumpiness. I immediately started antibiotics and went to bed hoping for relief.

I love to see the temple

Rendered Speechless

This month has been busy! I counted and realized I have slept more nights in a hotel than I have in my new place. With all this traveling has come walking around all day in the cold and taking very little time for sleep. When this happens, my body rebels against me. Translation: Thamina got sick. Now, it was all pretty manageable until Christmas Eve when my siblings and I decided to go skiing up Fairview Canyon (aka ghetto skiing).

Now I live in a family of physicians. Four of the five people going on this trip had either been in medical school or were currently in medical school. Dad: family practice physician. Sister: emergency room physician. Brother: second year medical student. Sister-in-law: second year dental school. They've all been tested on the simplest and complex viruses. I may have been asked once or twice if I was feeling well enough to go but no one pushed for me to stay back. Now, to give my family a fair shot. I am me. I'm pretty stubborn. If I have it in my head to do something, I'm going to do it. I didn't want to miss out on the fun and decided skiing was worth any repercussion.

Little did I realize what the consequences of that decision would be. Christmas day was wonderful, but as the day wore on my energy level dropped and my voice began to crack, creak, and croak. The day after Christmas showed no signs of improvement. In fact, I croaked multiple octaves as I tried to speak, and as I was talking on the phone with my sister, she started laughing because she couldn't understand me at all.

I realized the time had come. To save my voice, I had to speak in a whisper or stop talking. Day one. Then day two. I'm now on day three where I am trying so hard not to talk. You all know me. Me and talking are inseparable. I always have something to say. But now even the slightest effort drains me. So for now, I'm speechless. I'm mute. The only way to get better is to rest my voice. I'm hoping it will be back tomorrow. I'm hoping this illness has run its course. I'm hoping.

My Dad Was Right

For many years my dad has always told me the best thing for a cold is sleep. I finally relented to that advice, slept over nine hours last night, took today off of work, and am actually starting to feel better after being sick with this wretched thing for over a week. Guess my dad was right. But I'll only admit that here because he never reads my blog. :)

One of Those Nights

You know those nights where you know you should go to bed early, especially since you are on the sixth day of being sick with a cold, have been working long hours at work, and are completely exhausted? Well, that's me tonight. I really should have gone to bed hours ago. Oh well. I can always try again tomorrow. :)

Question Answered

This morning I had a question: If you have a scratchy throat and stuffy nose (all symptoms pointing to a cold), will running six miles make it worse? The answer is yes.