What a title! Really puts pressure on me to choose a GREAT photo!
Rather than writing a todo list for today I though I would instead create this page! Kim and I came back from CA visit to grandchildren coughing etc. I went right to Harvard Vanguard Urgent Care and got cough pills as well as a antibiotic regiment. The Xrays showed no lung involvement. My main complaint was that the coughing kept me from sleeping at night!
I spent a couple nights sleeping sitting on the couch in our living room in New Hampshire, moved to a guest room when I could lie down and generally was all set by the time I left for Portugal Saturday. I was smart enough to talk to Harvard Vanguard about what pills to take in the event of a return. I hoped I might be able to carry with me a complete regiment of antibiotic and cough but they werc conservative and sent me with 2 medications, one probably DM pills and one lozenges. I was smart enough to tear off the “dosage” information on the packages before just bringing the pills.
Often hard to pinpoint that actual onset of an attack. I way over-exerted myself on my ride Sunday. Went a distance that I often had done in the past but struggled with last yaer and died on this year. I had to walk and sit at bus stops a lot. Made it home but late for my 4pm bar meeting. I got there, survived the tequila cocktail (with the two non-alcoholic beers!) and had dinner at an Indian restaurant that had been recommended by Jim, one of my bar mates at Shaker. I assume Sunday night was pretty normal. I woke up to rain Monday and easily decided to take the day off from riding. Had lunch in the sun with tea and soup.
Then a nice ice cream sunday in the sun. Pretty much spent the day in bed. Made it to Shaker and put on a reasonable impersonation of Tom Pears and then off to dinner at one of the Ex-pat establishments, Lighthouse.
Now I was in trouble. I was really coughing and had no idea how I could sleep or allow anyone else in the hostel to sleep. I thought about going to management and suggesting to them that if they had an option, things seem pretty empty, they should leave the room closest to mine empty! Sitting up in a chair did no good. I got out the “emergency” pills. Took 2 and two lozenges. Got to sleep! Woke up about 1am, redosed the same 2 and 2 and again got back to sleep! Never even though of riding, Got a chocolates croissant for breakfast, with my grapes, blue berries and raspberries in the sun on the balcony! Again a complete day in bed sleeping fitfully except for an exact repeat of the lunch in the sun with tea, soup and fried small sardines. Made it to Shaker but was unable to maintain any semblance of normality. Luckily none of my crowd was there and bar keep Carley just let me sulk. Dinner of Tapas goat cheese on toast at my old time hang out, Baffi Bar. Talked to the young couple next to me who were new to town, just down for a week for her birthday from the UK.
I had counted the “emergency” pills and at this rate of 8/night, I was not going to make it through Sunday. I skipped my normal pills, except for the cough one from the Urgent Care that I still had a does of one per day left. (In the early stage, back in the US, I had been taking the allowed 3 a day but had cut back to 1 once the cough subsided and I was leaving for Portugal.) I had brought one other emergency pill ration, sudafed. Instead of cutting back on the 4 and 4, I decided to give it a try. Harvard Vanguard had argued against it, as I am also taking a blood pressure med, all be it at a low dose,
At one point, I though this page might be about what am I going to do today. Facing up to all the todos that are racing around in my head. But it is now 11am, so clearly I have alredy decided that I am going to write this page and leave the rest for later! I can not possible have much more to say about pills and cough!
Having been in bed all day for Monday and Tuesday, I still was ready to turn out the lights as soon as I had watched the wonderful Utube “Rescue” episode of HikingDancer walking the Pacific Coast Trail. I knew the “Rescue” episode was coming. I was not sure what night but it had not happened on the first two days of her hike that posted Monday and Tuesday. In order to “hide” her actual location, and in fact 95% of women hiker/Vlogers on the AT do the same, HikingDancer posts her videos at a somewhat random time after the actual hike. As a long time subscriber I really enjoy being included in a “Back Channel” non-Utube stream that is almost real time. So I knew a “Rescue” was coming. HikingDancer’s group on the PCT, groups are called a Tramaly, trail family, came across an injured hiker and supported him to rescue. Anyway, I got to see that episode and maybe a little bicycle racing before taking 1 sudafed red pill and putting another one on my bed side table. When I woke up at 1AM, I felt good enough to not take the second one.
Given the blood pressure interaction suggestion, I had skipped the blood pressure medicine for Tuesday night and took the whole 8 pill routine, including an extra cough pill, at 8am Wednesday get up. I normally do not have a lot of trouble falling asleep. I always assumed this had a lot to do with my regular alcohol intake routine cocktail cheese/crackers, wine at dinner, and 3 high alcohol beers after 8:30 PM with night time TV routine. Due to, hopefully, excess of caution over fatty liver disease, that alcohol intake has been reduced to maybe one low alcohol beer, with no noticeable impact on my easy of falling asleep. Even with this cough, I seem to have been able to drift off to sleep fairly easily. Or rather I should say it is either yes or no. If I can not even lie down without coughing, I am not going to lie there and cough.
Finally I get to a natural place for a todo! I want to walk over to a 3d super market in Lagos that I have not been to yet this trip. In the first days, I visited the first two multiple times collecting non-alcoholic beers and my nightly regiment of grapes, strawberries, chocolate pudding, nuts, cookies, chocolate etc I am hoping to remember to get honey from this trip to take dissolved in hot water before lying down! I have been by this supermarket at least twice on the bike but was prompted to get home each time instead of shopping.
And then of course there is lunch! I need to be seated in the sun. I need to have tea and soup and I think fried small sardines for the 3d day in a row! The poor people around me who have to put up with my constant sneezing, blowing my noes or wiping the dips using a few sheets from my roll of toilet paper! Kim might call this truly cringe worthy! I can not go back the the same restaurant for the third day and order the same thing! Yesterday my excuse was that I did not have the energy to read menus and find another. The easy criterion is the seat in the sun. I can easily see that walking by and I know the layout of the town well enough to know what streets just do not have sun at noon. Reading menus is another real challenge. My glasses for that activity are not the best for walking, navigating the oncoming people. But I will have to make do, I can’t be constantly stopping and changing glasses!
All is accomplished and I am ready for bed. I even just watched the Hiking Dancer post rescue episode. I had lunch in the sun of course at a fairly upscale establishment with bread soup but I had to settle for a too expensive big fish with bones. Afterward, stopped in Shafer and Carley sent me to a near by ice cream place. Then home, a short nap, on to non-alcohol beer at Shafer and then dinner at a wonderful Belgium restaurant with high alcohol beer. On the way I bought honey but just at a local supermarket that I had never seen before. My plan is to take 2 DM? pills without the lozenges and we will see!
Things are always a little foggy in the hours of the night, but I believe I did take a first loginger, Then many? hours later a second. Bottom line, I made it through the night, had a reasonable rest and most important for my well being, survived a night using only 4 items from my limited pharmacy instead of the 8 I had used in a previous pill/loginger rejument. I now have confidence that my pills will outlast my stay! Daughter Emily is encouraging me to ask for help at the local pharmacy and I know such is an option but so far it is kept as only a last resort.
I had another reasonable non-riding day Thursday. A young father at dinner Wednesday night and a wonderful couple at salmon on bagel breakfast. I passed the day just as the previous, naps, tompears.com, lunch of soup and sardines. Finally a walking trip to the super market out on the main road to get berries (no strawberries! they are gone!), more chocolate pudding, water etc. Normal appointment at Shaker with only the non-alcoholic beers and then onto British ex-pat bar at the marina for simple goat cheese on toast and a small lagunitas. Justin, one of the regulars at Shaker along with his wife Lisa, had given me a can of Barley Wine from a Lisboa brewery. Last year I had brought some special beers down from Lisboa and passed them out at Shaker and Justin was ready for a return gift after I showed up this year.
So for a number of days I have known that I have to find some plan to consume this lovely gift. Tonight was the night. I had been keeping it cold in the Hostel refrigerator. I got a glass from the kitchen, brought it up and consumed it while watching Hiking Dancer and her hiking partner Chap on the Pacific Coast Trail. I put in a magic little red sudafed pill somewhere near the end. Consumed a couple chocolate puddings, another Video Blog from a 2024 AT hiker and fell wonderfully asleep!! Up at mabe 1AM to put in another red pill that I had prepared, (pre-liberated from its child and old man proof silver foil cage) not that I was coughing, just prophylactic.
Good dreams of how sudafed actually controls the water level in humans, prevents the drip from causing the cough etc. BUT then the dreaded 5am cough wakeup and I have been writing this since. Still no green but clearly the feeling that a lot of liquid has been waiting in my lungs until the medicine wears off and NOW it needs to be expelled! I have the memory from years ago, maybe as far back as high school, of using the medicine to stop the cough and ending up with pneumonia. I know that is not realistic. The flem I am coughing up is not at all green. But still my focus is on getting home and engaging Harvard Vanguard Urgent Care in the next round of the battle. Kim suggested in a text message that I give it up and come home early. Ths was 3 days ago at least. For one thing, it is not really practical, imagine dealing with the airlines, airbnb for the night in Lisboa, etc.
There is another side of me that can just live minute to minute. I got enough sleep last night. Yes I would love to take a nap now and am pretty sure there is no way. But I will find something. One real casualty, along with the bike riding, is reading the book club book! I carry it with me everywhere, lunch, dinner etc but never open it. And I actually was enjoying the story! And then there is the bike! Hopefully sitting in the storage room. I have not set eyes on it since Sunday. That certainly is at least something that I have to face up to today.
It is 7am, the birds are very much awake, the sky is blue and soon the sun will be providing its Mediterranean warmth. In the glow of last night’s beer and non-coughing I was all ready to ride to Solare do Fuiou for lunch but now I have my doubts. Hopefully I will avoid going out to breakfast and eat the berries I have here. It will be interesting to see what choice I make for the coming next night, a Friday night torture. The wonderful oblivion of the high alcohol beer and Sudafed with the 5am downfall or the harder entry pills and lausengers?
What a surprise. I chose alcohol over lozenges? I walked to the 3d, least used by me supermarket, which I now think is the closest, and got 2 high alcohol beers. On the way home after dinner Friday night I stopped at the Belgium restaurant and of course Angelous was more than happy to sell me a Westmalle beer. About 8:30 I took one sudafed, drank the Westmalle and then one of the Supermarket Beers. They did not have nearly the effect of the wonderful Barley Wine beer Justin had provided for Thursday night. I ate a fair number of cookies, a set of blue berries but no chocolate pubbing. Of course I watched the latest release of Hiking Dancer, as well as Wildflower and a little Biking. One of the real problems with Youtube here in room 27 is that not only are the “Titles” in Portuguese, but the TV itself is 7 feet up on the wall. I have a very hard time seeing what I am choosing to watch and with this remote, I have minimal control over starting and stopping Youtubes. I have to move the cursor quickly from one selection to the next. If I am slow, they start!
I woke up about midnight and took another sudafed. Then 3am? and took a third! It is now 8am and I am still not coughing. I slept until at least 7:30 and planned wonderful creations for the summer. It is Saturday, I am committed to riding my bike today!! I have one high alcohol beer left. Unless my present condition deteriorates into unable to breath coughing, once the drug wears off, it is going to be a hard sell to get me to skip the alcohol-sudafed routine and go back to lozenges. I have stopped taking the Urgent Care prescription cough pills from Boston. They seemed to be contributing nada!
9:20 am and still no coughing?