I do my best to keep my posts uplifting and inspiring,  but sometimes it’s hard to stay positive when you’ve coughed for so long the headache pounds in your ears. My small ailments of last week are laughing at the fate of this week, and even though it is only Wednesday, I am exhausted.

College is about independence and self-discovery, and those are two wonderful and essential things. But, through being forced to be independent I have discovered that I hate going to the doctors without my mom. Especially one that I am unfamiliar with. In the past four days I have visited two clinics, and had to keep a list on my phone of my current prescription doses, symptoms, and past illnesses. I’ve had to pretend to be brave, and pretend to know what I was doing. And I had to do all of this while trying to simultaneously blow my nose, cough, and breathe.

One doctor said I had an upper-respiratory infection, the other said I had bronchitis. Both are complicated, and both suck, mostly because of my asthma and hatred of medicine. But in order to be independent and learn to take care of myself, I had to visit a pharmacy to buy steroids, antibiotics, nasal spray, decongestant pills, cough drops, and Vitamin C. I also have to remember to take the correct doses at the correct times and try not to feel dizzy or forget which pill is which. 

At this point, I am trying to remember where I’m going with this post, and which medicine I still have to take before bed. But from the title, I know what I wanted to share: The two things that have been getting me through this prolonged sickness are bagels and iBooks. And I can explain both without any confusion.

Because my body isn’t conditioned to taking conventional medicine in such high doses, I find myself both painfully hungry and equally nauseas. I have tried oatmeal, jello, honey, rice, but the food that has helped me the most are baby bagels. The bland, chewy, mini-bread has become a part of my daily diet, and I can shamelessly admit I’ve eaten four or five a day. This probably isn’t good in the long run, but I also won’t be sick for much longer (knock on wood).

The second thing that has gotten me through the long, restless nights of coughing and fitful tossing and turning is iBooks. Because I share a room, I can’t turn on a light to read books when I wake up every two hours to take medicine and can’t fall back asleep. I’ve been passing the long nights scrolling through novels on my phone, and am so thankful for modern technology like the online bookstore in the palm of my hand.

I guess I am thankful for modern medicine too, because without it I wouldn’t be able to get through the nausea, the insomnia, and the bronchitis that has struck me down. And most of all, I will be thankful once the pills start kicking in.

Trying my best,

Madeleine