A lot of people get sick, a lot. They spend maybe a quarter of their lives dealing with one symptom or another. There's coughing, sneezing, dizziness, runny noses, headaches, sore throats, congestion, drowsiness, ear aches, excessive phlegm buildups, overall aches and pains and lethargy, just to name a few. There are a whole lot more. Those are just the ones that sprang immediately to mind.
Most of my life, I have had a pretty strong immune system. When other people around me would get really really sick, I would just end up with minor sniffles or maybe a cough here or there. They would be dropping like flies and I would be there just plugging along as if nothing was wrong.
Maybe my immune system is stronger than the average human's because I am really an alien/demon/angel. Or maybe it has something to do with them pumping my system full of antibiotics, when I drowned and was in a coma, when I was still a toddler.
I did manage to discover through my childhood and teenage years, that my kryptonite is strep throat. When that thing comes around, I get it every time, or so it seems. And it seems to last longer for me than it does for other people. Thinking back, I've only really gotten that about twice in the last ten years though.
For awhile now, I haven't really gotten sick the way most people think of illness. I was starting to think that maybe I was evolving and had become immune to most of the maladies that plague us. But, after doing some more thinking and observing general patterns over the last few years, I have recognized some changes that seem to coincide with times that most others around me have gotten sick.
When other people around me are suffering through half a dozen or more symptoms I usually do not have any of them. But that's not to say I get away entirely unscathed. I have found when they are hacking and sneezing and whining about how bad they feel, that I am often more tired and occasionally feel slightly dumb. Now this for me is a really big deal because I am usually very sharp and great at handling problems. This lessening of my intelligence frustrates me greatly. I end up feeling like a complete vegetable because things that are usually simple for me to solve are either impossible or just not worth the effort.
I don't want to be present while this is occurring but there is very little I can do to get away from it. Plus, I'm tired. So, I sleep. Normally I sleep a few hours more than usual for a day or two and that's that. This past week, I've spent more time asleep than awake, which is why there has been no new blogging from me until now. I intend to rectify that starting now.
I think what has been happening for the past few years is that my immune system has been getting stronger. It has grown to the point where it is able to successfully fight off whatever illnesses are destroying the daily quality of life for my friends and loved ones. But, it uses up all or nearly all of the energy that I would use to go about being my usual awesome self.
Is it really a boon or a detriment though? To all the people regularly dealing with the laundry list of symptoms I mentioned up at the top I am sure it would be a gift. Myself, I'm not so sure. I mean I know I don't want to be plagued by all those common cold type symptoms. But sleeping more means missing more of life. And I kinda totally love life.
No comments:
Post a Comment