Where Bloggers Live: Self Care When I’m Sick

Welcome! “Where Bloggers Live” started out kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! We all like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives, so every month this wonderful group of five bloggers family of amazing women shares their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific prompts. It’s been so interesting over the years to see the different ways each of us interpret the topics.
I have several philosophies about illness.
One: Unless they kill me, I’m going to recover
And the vast majority of illnesses are not going to kill me. So I don’t worry too much about them.
Two: The Three-Day Rule
I know many people that go straight to the doctor at the first sign of anything being wrong. And I’m not saying that’s wrong, that’s just not my method. I hate going to the doctor…I find it expensive, inconvenient, and a time-waster. So I avoid it if possible. By following the 3-day rule.
I wake up one day and I’m sick. Sore throat, fever, stomach funkiness, whatever the case may be. Unless I am literally incapacitated by pain (#kidneystones) or something truly seems life-threatening…I wait three days. If I don’t see improvement after three days, then I will consider going to the doctor. Most things do start to improve naturally in several days.
I’m not against vaccines, I’m just not much of one for them for myself personally (see above re going to the dr; inconvenient, etc). I do keep certain things in the house to help allay symptoms when I’m not feeling well. At the first tingle of a sore throat, I double-dose with echinacea & golden seal. That’s the most houly-ghouly medical thing I do. I feel the liquid is better than the pills. I put two droppersful of the foul tasting liquid in something that will mask the fermented dirt water taste…preferably whiskey, but orange juice or iced tea will do in a pinch.
I always have Theraflu type things around to help ease coughing and help me sleep. Until I started traveling, I always had hydrocodone at the ready in case of kidney stone pain. If I don’t have strong pain killers when kidney stone pain hits, I end up in the emergency room on a morphine drip. Traveling internationally, it’s hard to transport good pain killers in and out of countries that are stricter than the US.
I live alone, so I try to always keep a couple things on-hand to get me through sick times. Other than the things mentioned above, I try to always have canned chicken noodle soup, cream of chicken soup and minute rice, bread for toast.
I’m not a fussy sick person. I just kind of like to be alone to sleep as much as I want in a quiet room. Hmm, that sounds pretty much like normal life.
Hope you’ll take a look at my friends’ blogs as well and see how they treat themselves when feeling under the weather.
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own




jodie filogomo
Golden seal?? Hmmm ill have to check that out and add it to my supply
Xoox
Jodie
bettyewp
It’s combined with echinacea. Echinacea & Golden Seal. All in one bottle. I don’t know what its job is, specifically, but the echinacea I’ve always bought has justy just come with it.
Sally in St Paul
“Preferably whiskey” – hell yeah! I am definitely a wimpy whiny type of sick person, but I also don’t go to the doctor immediately. I get recurring sinus infections and my doctor was like, yeah you can come in and get something for it but it won’t be any faster than just waiting it out.
bettyewp
Ah-ha! I feel so vindicated! “you can come in and get something for it but it won’t be any faster than just waiting it out.” Boom.
Em D
Practical perspective, Bettye. I also rarely ring up the doctor… Used to do it so often for the kiddos ears that I know the number by heart. But I rarely call for myself. I’ll wait for at least two weeks if I can’t shake a cough.
On the flip I do tend to get injuries checked out semi-regularly…I am very phobic about breaking things. It seems to be a win-win though, because lately, whatever I’ve injured hurts as if it’s broken until I get an xray, then it’s magically better. 🤷🏻♀️
bettyewp
Yeah, injuries are definitely different. Broken/sprained bones are incapacitating, and that’s my threshold. When I can’t do what I want or need to do cuz of some MEDICAL THING, I go to the dr.