Good sign. I’m starting to amuse myself again. Whether this amuses you or not I’m still too sick to care . . . (Good News-Bad News)
Haiku-Heights
prompt, DEATH
Rhinoviruses
If I could, I’d beat ‘em up
Till they were all DEAD
* * *
Lovely yellow-green
They’re deader than a doornail
A very good sign!
* * *
S’not fun to be sick
Good riddance to bad rubbish
Better them than me.
My new personal pediatrician says:
“Over 200 viruses (I think I have 198 of them) can cause the common cold,
The rhinovirus (In addition to the rhinovirus, I have an elephantovirus, and a gigantosaurisvirus) is the most common type of virus that causes colds.”
“When germs that cause colds first infect the nose and sinuses, the nose makes clear mucus. This helps wash the germs from the nose and sinuses. After two or three days, (how about 2 weeks?) the body’s immune cells fight back, changing the mucus to a white or yellow color. As the bacteria that live in the nose grow back, (GROW BACK?!) they may also be found in the mucus, which changes the mucus to a greenish color. This is normal and does not mean you or your child needs antibiotics.”
“Mucus also contains disease-fighting antibodies and chemicals that can tear apart infectious particles. Not only does it help prevent and treat infections, but it also keeps the nasal linings happy (that is the only part of me that’s happy) and moist, and humidifies inhaled air. Its sticky surface traps pollens, infectious particles, and airborne pollutants, sort of like built-in fly paper. (euwww) Under ordinary circumstances, (this is NOT an ordinary circumstance) a person makes—and swallows– about a quart of it a day.” (that would account for the fact I’m not losing weight)
(Good news, some of my cold virus are “deader than a doornail”*) “Towards the end of a cold, snot will get thick and dark and lovely yellow-green (especially the stuff in that first morning tissue.) By then, the mucus isn’t infectious anymore. Rather than being loaded with virus, it’s filled with dead and dying infection-fighting cells and sloughed debris from your nose. (Good riddance to bad rubbish) It’s a misconception (unfortunately perpetuated by many doctors, I know) that green snot at the end of a cold means that there’s some kind of infection that needs antibiotics. ‘Taint true, though if thick persistent all-day mucus lasts longer than 10-14 days at the end of a cold, you might have a sinus infection brewing. It’s the duration of symptoms that helps distinguish a cold from sinusitis, not the color of the boogers. And no, you don’t need to bring in a sample for your pediatrician to examine. Really. Thanks.” http://pediatricinsider.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/373/
*”But William and Mary Morris, in The Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, quote a correspondent who points out that it could come from a standard term in carpentry. If you hammer a nail through a piece of timber and then flatten the end over on the inside so it can’t be removed again (a technique called clinching), the nail is said to be dead, because you can’t use it again. Doornails would very probably have been subjected to this treatment to give extra strength in the years before screws were available. So they were dead because they’d been clinched. It sounds plausible, but whether it’s right or not we will probably never know.” http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/58788/what-does-deader-than-a-doornail-mean
Having allergies I can appreciate these haiku. Oh the misery. Thank you for sharing.
Nice post, Hope you have recovered now!
Wonderful! Thanks for the anatomy and carpentry lesson
Hope you are feeling well again. – Jolly
Humorous Haiku and informative post. Get well soon Judith
Interesting snotty post
I have a cough to end all coughs that racks to the stomach. I hope we are better soon.
Laughing hard here. Well done, Judith
‘Deader than a doornail’ made me smile ;p
You amuse me, Judith – you mind it or not – , thanks for your healthy humour and anti-viral haiku, hehehe.
))
Better them than me, yesss!!!, and They’re deader than a doornail, what a good line!
Great fun. Should go viral.
Nice set of haiku!
Common cold! Eww! hate it!
Fragrant Memories
You do amuse me…nurses ( II’m one) and doctors ( I’m not one )can take the green snot.viruses ☺
I do hope you start feeling better soon.
Thanks for sharing…
Peace and love,
Siggi in Downeast Maine
Siggi!
Nurses and doctors are S’NOT wusses like “civilians”!
I think this is funny and it doesn’t bother me a bit. Keep amusing us.
Alice
Thanks Alice! I needed that support right now .. . after all, I’m sick (sic).
eewww
…and that is why Maureen and I are twins. I love her.
In all honesty, I can’t “like” the post because as I’m sitting here, I’m seriously nauseous. That color green is disturbing to me as was the visual images of snot. Glad you are amusing yourself but I feel like I want to throw up. I know this will amuse you even more so that is a good sign. I think I have a virus too, of the sensitive stomach variety. Glad to hear you are sounding like you are 5 years old again. I’m going to vomit now.
I am laughing so hard at your treatise on mucus, I almost forgot about your haiku!! LOVE, love, love your every word, Judy!
It seems everyone and their mother is sick at this time. Hope you feel better soon, and enjoyed these snotty haiku