The Pros and Cons of a Super-Duper Head Cold

I imagine you are thinking there is no "Pro view" for a bad Head Cold or any kind of sickness. (Wait, you may need some help from my kind of imagination or thinking through things.).

I can't even recall when I last had a such an extreme head cold as I've had all last week and though I had thought it was clearing up this week, it has made fresh mega attacks on me.

Mostly, I was worried for this last Sunday as I enjoy my volunteers jobs in the ESL class and as a special in-service prayer warrior during the morning service, but I was afraid that my extremely long, loud coughing fits would frighten others - even with my mask on. So begged to be excused from the first one, and went directly to my prayer place in the far corner of the balcony.

A few ESL friends knew and had said they would pray for me. The Pastor also sent me an email - though I didn't see it until I got home in the afternoon, that he was praying for me as well. So when I hardly coughed at all during that 4.5 hour prayer assignment, I sort'a knew where the credit should go.

I thought my super-duper head cold was on the way out. But then I had a nasty session of coughing when I went to bed Sunday night, and several times yesterday, plus also when I went to lie down.

It seems when there is phlegm in our lungs, lying down causes the lungs to panic, feeling that they would not be able to breathe.

My Mom used to get pnemonia a lot, and since she was weak and frail, she was not able to cough up the phlegm - which explains why she often ended up in hospital for medical help to clear up her pneumonia. But at one point the Home Care nurse who came to our house to see her every other week took time to show me how to do percussion on Mom's sides and chest, with the heels of my hands (alongside the little fingers). This was a type of light drumming on her ribs, but it helped to loosen up the phlegm in her lungs, and after that she would sit up and be able to bring up gobs of the phlegm into some tissues.

When she was in hospital it was usually a nurse or physiotherapist who was assigned to do this, but once I learned how to do it, she would say to them, "No, wait, my daughter will do it when she comes." (She knew that some of them would give her slaps with the palms of their hands, and that was painful for her).

So now, at bedtime and whenever I get a coughing fit so that it is hard to breathe until the spell passes, I have taken to doing percussion on my chest too. It is just really awkward to use both hands on one's self, so it is more of a one-handed percussion. I can usually bring out a lot of phlegm too, after such a treatment.

Cough Drops help also, but I suspect they make that stuff slide down to the bottom of the lungs.

Hot drinks of bone broth, or coffee, cooled to less than scalding, do bring temporary peace and quiet too.

So what's my Pro?

Well, while praying about all this this morning I remembered that I had learned this percussion skill way back when caring for Mom, which saves me going to hospital to clear it up.

Also, I had been fretting about no one coming to buy my aloe vera plants, I sensed the Lord reminding me that strangers would be really afraid or even spooked if they came and I was coughing the whole time I was trying to sell them some plants. So perhaps, He is keeping them away until this cold is cleared up and gone. Quite possible, eh?

My God has often proved to be the God-of-Perfect-Timings in the past. It is quite possible He is doing that again, and the plants WILL SELL YET!

He can do perfect-timings for you too!

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