Mima's Sick

I am the one who got knocked out with the latest bug lately.  Because I work at home, I often have no idea what everyone has, but my daughter works at the store in town.  She came home and told me that someone else reported having this set of symptoms, they missed four days of work, and now they're fine.  Generally this is my first step in treating anyone.  Is it going around? 

My first symptoms were very swollen glands under my jaw and a fever.  Then my throat became very sensitive.  Rapid onset of symptoms screams echinacea.  I had commercial echinacea tea bags and just a few doses of our homemade YEGGO here.  That's the problem with getting sick in August.  Last year's herbs are nearly gone, this year's are still working.

For the sore throat, I started gargling cayenne in water several times a day.  For swollen glands - calendula.  I have blossoms right outside the door, and I have tincture left over from last year.  I took repeated hot showers to keep the congestion from building in my sinuses.  And I did nothing to treat the fever.  I believe that fevers are healthy and that allowing your body to use fever to control a microbe keeps the immune system strong and effective.

I also slept as much as I could.

Today is Sunday.  I have been sick for one week.  My throat is still sore.  I sound atrocious.  But my glands are almost back to a normal size. 

Today, I am taking a locally available blend, sold by 7Song.  It is called Warming Lungs.  In the middle of the night, I had the feeling that the congestion was trying to get into my lungs.  I don't know how to describe this awareness.  But I also knew that I needed elecampane to stop the process.

This is the problem with being a lazy herbalist...I have not collected elecampane yet.  I know I should have.  And I really wanted to!  And I will - probably soon!  But I needed it today, and today is cold and rainy and muddy and I don't feel well. So, you know, sometime what you need it right where you are, but someone else needs to get it for you.  And today my son's girlfriend brought me her Warming Lungs blend.  We will both go out in the swamp later this week and dig some elecampane, and get some...yeah. we have a lot of collecting and stocking up to do!