Streptococci lurk

As I’ve mentioned, my flight back from Paris last week was a damned plague ship. So of course I’ve been sick ever since. My capacity for manufacturing snot is really impressive, but it’s the cough that’s killing me. I have a history with coughs, so I’ve been trying to tame this sucker for days.

I made an appointment yesterday with my primary care doc for a telehealth visit, because all I wanted was a prescription for cough medicine with codeine, which is the only thing that’s ever killed my coughs. Well, according to her, codeine is out of fashion and pharmacies don’t even stock it. But she wanted me to come in anyhow so she could listen to my lungs; she was concerned about the prospect of pneumonia. So I went in.

Got tested for flu and COVID (both negative); lungs are fine, although it’s hard to “breathe deep” when doing so triggers a coughing fit. She gave me prescriptions for benzonatate and albuterol and advised otherwise to rest and drink plenty of fluids.

(For the record, I’ve already gone through a gallon of various juices since Monday.)

Anyway—all this is by way of explaining today’s earworm: Vivian Blaine singing “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys & Dolls.

Obviously, a poisen has developed a cold.