Old Baby = Toddler Baby

I swear that being sick as a senior citizen is just as bad as being sick as a toddler.

Only with more perked up ears.

Used to be you had a bad cold or the flu you took cold medicine and went to work. Or school. You can afford to miss one or two days, but for the ones that hold on for almost a week — you just can’t afford missing more days.

When I was 40 I would get hit with a bad flu/cold once a year. Chicken soup and bedrest and NyQuil was the answer.

But now that I’m older I have to perk up those ears. Pay more attention. Is it Covid-19? The beginning of pneumonia? Statistics say that, after heart disease and cancer, Covid-19 and Chronic lower respiratory diseases are the major causes of death in older people.

First thing most of us senior citizens do is check the internet every hour in case there’s statistical updates and/or signs to look out for. But eventually:

Hear that wheezing? Call the doctor.

Have a fever? Call the doctor.

Can’t get out of bed? Call the doctor.

It sounds like I’m poking fun at getting sick, and half of me is. I never had such knee-jerk reactions to a wheeze or a light headed episode before.

But when I was 40 we didn’t have Covid-19 around, either.

Like toddlers, we often don’t know what’s wrong with us. Boogey nose, tired, cranky — that’s our lives most every day! Allergies? Have never really been tested for them. Sinus problems? Nasal passage is clear — who knows what causes all that post nasal drip?

It used to be that chicken soup and aspirin and Vicks VapoRub would cure anything.

I wish it were that easy these days. 

Don’t ignore your signs. Hey — that means you, too, youngsters around 40 or 50 years old! There’s weird stuff in the air that can strike any of us at any time. Don’t get paranoid, don’t panic — just listen to that voice in your head that says ‘check me out.’ You’ll know it when you hear it.

P.S. I did go to the doctor and my lungs are clear and I have no fever, so suck it up, buttercup….

P.P.S. Where’s my chicken soup?