How Much Damage Can One Sneeze Cause?

Towards the end of last week, still a houseful of people mind you, Mae came down with a fever. It was only a day and a half since she had immunizations at the doctor's office so I figured that had to be it. I gave her a fever reducer and kept her home last Friday. Saturday she felt a little better but still running a low fever. Sunday she was feeling much better and she didn't need the medicine anymore.

Then all of a sudden at breakfast with 7 people around our kitchen island, Binny sneezes. This was no sneeze I've ever seen come out of a child. It was a mixture of pancakes with raspberry jam and whipped cream, breakfast sausages, cantaloupe and snot at 90 miles an hour. There was nothing any of us could have done to stop it. Binny herself was surprised at the magnitude of her sneeze. Right then as I run to get a tissue or 7 for Binny, the rest of the adults at the table discussed whether or not to throw out the bowl of cantaloupe that was directly in the path of Binny's sneeze. It was agreed that only Binny may consume the sneezy cantaloupe. And right there, feeling defeated and realizing that we would get ALL this icky cold, I apologized in advance to my grandmother and grandfather who happened to be sitting on either side of Binny. Not that an apology helps matters or will offer any vitamin C benefits but what else is there to do?

I started to feel it on Tuesday. All day yesterday I had a sinus headache that just wouldn't quit. I had to go to the pharmacy anyway to pick up a prescription, so while I was there I decided to replenish my supply of cold medicine. I have always used sudafed but since the active ingredient in Sudafed is also a main component in the illegal drug compound Meth, the sale is extremely monitored. Which means for all of the sick people who want nothing more than to relieve the intense pressure of a sinus cold must now locate and present a valid driver's license, sign a log complete with: name, date of birth, address, phone number, etc. Combine that with a long line of people, insurance problems and an impatient Binny who keeps asking why I won't take off my sunglasses in the store makes for one hell of an outing.

In addition to the semi-legal cold medicine I bought a box of day and night cold medicine. I went home took a daytime and planted my butt in the recliner. I managed to feel better and made dinner for my family then back to the chair. The Gardener put the girls to bed and I took a night cold tablet (well within the dosing schedule on the box) and went to bed myself. This morning I felt better but more so I felt drunk. You know that feeling when you stand up and the room won't stop spinning. The sinus pressure was down most evident by the dried snot all over my face, and I could breathe and my headache was reaching a bearable point as well but I had an overwhelming feeling of being over-medicated. (does that even make sense?) Now that the pills have worn off I feel a bit better and hope that this was the worst of it. Binny and Mae are almost back to normal too. I hope that this was the worst of it because we have weekend plans. September is a busy birthday month for our family, so we decided to have one last summer weekend in the woods to infect the rest of the family celebrate.

I guess it wouldn't be the right to start the school year and NOT pass around a cold.