A Contradiction

We are in a time of contradictions. After all it is election time. And as I have stated earlier the political rhetoric is getting somewhat tedious. And I use the word tedious as the words I would really like to use are not suitable in this forum.

Over the course of the last two months I have been battling a nasty chest infection. At one point I believe the doctor suggested I was suffering from bronchial pneumonia although I think he was somewhat flummoxed himself. Since the end of August I have been on five different antibiotics and four different inhalers. Some of them work, some not so well. Is it a bacterial infection or is it a virus? Is it because I abused my lungs in the past or is it because this bug is making its rounds? Am I slower in getting over it than others or did I wait too long to see a doctor? So many questions. So few answers. For now I seem to be getting better. Two weeks ago I was better too and then it came back with a vengeance.

So in this new world we live in you take an antibiotic to get rid of an infection or inflammation. However that creates a problem. Pardon my ignorance but I did not know this. So the antibiotic gets rid of bacteria. Makes sense if you have a bacterial infection. However, and here is the contradiction, your body needs bacteria. So I have learned that there are good bacteria and there are bad bacteria. Antibiotics don’t know the difference so they simply zap all the bacteria. But now that the bacteria, good and bad, are gone I have to replace the good bacteria by using a pro-biotic. I was told that eating yogurt would do that for me. Quite frankly I would rather not replace bacteria if it means eating yogurt. So someone in all their wisdom provided me with pills that have the same effect. Perfect. Antibiotics in the morning, pro-biotics in the evening. Makes for , and I quote, an ultimate flora. That is all I am saying about that.

Oh, I forgot. Aside from antibiotics and inhalers I also needed to use cough syrup. Have you ever taken a look at what is available on the drugstore shelf? Tough to decide which one to use. Just before I decided it was time to see a doctor I stopped in at a drugstore to buy some cough syrup. Should have been easy. I asked the pharmacist which kind would be best. She did not want to sell me any. Insisted I go to the doctor. I concurred but still needed some. Made my own choice. Don’t think it worked. The doctor suggested which kind I should get. Thank goodness it wasn’t Buckley’s. Now there is an adventure waiting to happen. Finally got one that worked. And again there was a contradiction. A cough syrup that is an expectorant, which loosens up whatever is in your lungs, and a cough suppressant. How does that work? It loosens up the phlegm but suppresses the cough. Does that not mean that it actually works against each other? All I know is that I seemed to cough up stuff I remember inhaling years ago. Don’t ask me to describe it. It was ugly.

That’s my story and I am sticking to it. Tonight I seem to be losing my voice. What does that mean? A relapse? I hope not. My son laughed at me when he heard my voice. Commented on the tough year my body has had. Hopefully things will get better. Perhaps get in a game of golf. Been missing that over the last six weeks. Then again maybe I will say what I used to say when I was farming. There is always next year. Make it a good one.