Staying Sick

I first showed signs of coming down with a cold on the evening of May 28th and it's now June 16th. I'm still coughing and bringing up phlegm. This is almost three weeks since the onset. It seems likely that I have a condition called walking pneumonia that is described on this site as: 

Walking pneumonia is a mild form of pneumonia. Pneumonia is a lung infection that causes your airways to swell, the air sacs in your lungs to fill with mucus and other fluids, a high fever and a cough with mucus. If you have walking pneumonia, you may feel well enough to walk around and carry out daily tasks without realizing you have pneumonia. “Walking pneumonia” is the common term for atypical pneumonia.

The same site goes on to say that:

The main differences between walking pneumonia and “regular” pneumonia are that walking pneumonia is milder and it usually doesn’t require bed rest or hospitalization. Anyone can get walking pneumonia. You’re more likely to get walking pneumonia if you are two years or younger or are 65 years or older. Walking pneumonia is common. The number of cases fluctuates, usually spiking every three to seven years. Walking pneumonia can occur at any time of the year. However, it occurs most often during the fall and winter. If you have walking pneumonia as a result of a virus or another cause, you have to let the illness run its course. Walking pneumonia is mild and can usually go away on its own without treatment. Walking pneumonia may last from four to six weeks. A cough is usually the longest-lasting walking pneumonia symptom.

This diagnosis seems to conform with my symptoms, the origin was most probably viral and brought home from University by my granddaughter. She recovered quickly as did my wife who was also infected but who is still under sixty. However, my ageing immune system has been battling to fight off the infection.

Naturally I'm concerned that my condition may worsen once I arrive in Melbourne on the 21st June and have to confront the depth of the city's winter. Hopefully my current cough will have disappeared by then. International air travel however, is stressful and puts a strain on the immune system but a recrudescence is possible. 

On the positive side, I have fashioned a new stretch band to replace the one that disappeared and I've resumed my leg exercises. I've also been walking most days and so things aren't so bad.