Feeling rough, successes and failures

I managed to make it through the four-hour class yesterday but by the time I finished the class my cough was worsening. Ordinarily, I would have finished out the day at the office – since Tuesday is one of my two days per week to report to the office – but because of the cough, I stayed at the HQ house. There was a group of EWN employees working from the house yesterday, but I sequestered in the training room to limit my exposure to them as I finished out the day, especially as the cough worsened. By yesterday evening, my cough was severe. One of those deep, loud coughs that gives Mama a headache. For sure I am dealing with bronchitis, but something else seems to be going on. My throat is very sore, and it is painful to swallow, and I have multiple fever blisters on my lips. I am a mess. But I have been worse. This too shall pass…eventually.

As I got my computer out this morning, I noticed a Slack message from my supervisor, asking about the class schedule and whether I needed a break. That was timely. So, I responded telling her how I was feeling and that I would not be able to teach the class tomorrow, that I would hopefully get in touch with the doctor today, and that I would keep working my normal day regardless of how badly I felt. I can only imagine the conversations going on in the background at work concerning my general health. I am hoping to be on the mend soon, but I am going to need prescriptive help to get there. As Mama and I are on this special diet to beat back Candida, I am not looking forward to taking antibiotics that will actually encourage the growth of Candida, but I have limited recourse to avoid that potentiality.

Part of what I am feeling is due to the “health crisis” that comes during a cleanse. As the body gets the herbs needed to aid in the disposal of the toxins released by the death of offensive bacteria and fungi, it will promote that disposal leading to a slight poisoning of the body as those toxins are dealt with. In my case, my immune response has been triggered and the current crisis is worse than it should have been. My bronchioles have always been the weak link in my body. I am affected there more often than in any other system in my body. Mama and I will push through on the diet and cleanse hoping to beat the overgrowth of Candida that both of us suffer from as we deal with the minor health crisis along the way. Completing the cleanse will be its own reward.

On the bright side, Mama and I are starting to harvest some vegetables from the garden: zucchini, spaghetti squash, Anaheim peppers, Bell peppers, Poblano peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and blackberries. We will start getting the larger variety of tomatoes within a few days. Mama is especially excited about the yellow tomatoes we have ripening on three plants. I do not know the variety of the cherry tomatoes, but they are a light orange color, and they are exceptionally sweet. The only problem with tomatoes is that we are not supposed to eat them – any variety – because of how they affect the arthritis Mama and I both suffer with. So, we will allow ourselves to eat a little and give the rest away. We will have a lot to give away because I have some tomato plants started in the sunroom that are a striped yellow and red variety. They will fruit very late in the summer. At the very least, I will save seeds from the ripe tomatoes so that we can grow them again next year.

We will soon be picking okra – I have a full row out in the garden – and beets. I am not sure what happened to our potatoes, but the plants died out already. Tonight, I will dig up whatever grew, if anything. The green beans are doing pretty well, but we are a few weeks away from harvesting anything from them. Meanwhile, the pear tree, which was loaded with pears is being systematically stripped of the fruit by squirrels.

The fruit is nowhere near ripe, but the tiny pears are lying below the tree eaten to the core by the thieves who plucked them off the tree. Same thing with the nectarine tree. Once loaded with fruit, it is now bare. I am going to need to reduce the squirrel population significantly if Mama and I are going to get a reasonable fruit harvest. I am not opposed to sharing.

The squirrels do not feel the same.