I took last month off from blogging to make some progress on my writing. The first week went well, allowing me to catch up on a lot of progress after my massive timeline rewrite. I was hopeful that I might make a serious dent. And then April 7th hit, and my daughter got sick. She had a high fever that wouldn’t go away. It was a viral cold, the type you can only treat the symptoms of, not the source. On the 20th, we admitted her to the hospital with pneumonia. By day three in the hospital, she was showing improvement. And I came down with a fever.
I’m still terribly ill, unable to think straight, coughing my lungs out and shivering half the time, so it might be a bit before I’m able to visit everyone’s blogs. But I will get there. Not sure about my writing though. I haven’t been able to write a thing with my mind inhibited with first worry and now illness. At least I can be thankful that my daughter is back to her usual exuberance. But being incapable of writing just because of the groggy head does make me a tad insecure.
IWSG Question of the Month – It’s spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?
I’ve never found myself inspired by the seasons. The stories all live in my head, and in my head, it’s a constant climate.
How do you handle writing while sick? Any tips for beating a terrible cough and fever?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
Oh no! You’re sick too?! I’m so glad your daughter’s better, especially after pneumonia. Scary stuff. I hope you get better soon.
The strangest thing happens with me when I’m sick. When I’m not ill, I’ll muck around something fierce, but get a cold into me (or whatever viral thing I’m dealing with now) and I’ll suddenly have a huge urge to write, write, write and all these ideas will pop up in my fog-riddled mind, but I often lack the energy to do anything about them.
I’m so glad to hear that your daughter is at least feeling better. Hope you’re feeling soon, too.
Depending on the illness, I can usually work through it. In fact, me not working is how my husband knows I’m feeling especially bad. That doesn’t mean anything I write while sick is worthwhile, but that’s a problem for the next draft, right?
Oh Loni. Please take care. I’m sending you prayers for you and your family. Spring makes me want to write, clean, do it all. 🙂
Yikes. Sorry — though super glad your daughter’s okay now. So. Now *you* take the time to heal.
To your question – Generally feel an uptick in energy (broadly speaking) with the arrival of spring. But doesn’t change writing habits. Just a different set of tasks to busy myself with whilst procrastinating.
Hmm. There’s that vague “cleaning the decks” atmosphere, as well.
*Get better!*
I hope you get well soon! I was ill earlier this year and it’s like my writing brain is only now getting back to where it should be.
Ronel visiting on Insecure Writer’s Support Group day: Autumn Decisions
Oh, Loni, please take care of yourself! Wishing you and your family good health!
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear about your daughter and now you. 🙁 I thought 2018 was going to be the year WITHOUT illnesses. Sheesh, Loni, I’m sorry. I have no medical advice as I treat everything with Dayquil and Nyquil. I hope you (and everyone in your family) feels better for a long, LONG time.
You’ll get back to writing! Just get past this thing and you’ll be right back at it. 🙂
I can’t write when I’m sick. I don’t know how folks do it or write while they’re taking care of sick family members. I hope this month goes better for you and finds you and your family in good health.
ACK! You poor thing, you and your family can’t catch a break. I think it’s best to just get better. Sleep, rest, whatever. I know it’s hard, especially when it goes on for a long time. Maybe a notebook by the bed to scribble stuff down. (If might make for interesting reading when you are better.)
Take care of yourself. If you want/need to write, then put down a few words. Otherwise ride out the storm and forget about it. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Yikes, how miserable. I hope you’re soon on the mend. I find it’s best not to write while sick, unless the muse is speaking to you. Best to focus on getting well. You’ll write better once you’re back to full health.
Oh my gosh, Loni! I’m so sorry to hear about you and also your daughter. Sending healing vibes your way. Take care of yourself. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Elsie
I think we got the same bug. Stupid bug. My hubby is still dealing with vertigo from it, but I think everyone else is healthy. It hit us the beginning of April.
You poor woman! That’s awful.
I can’t write when I’m that sick. My brain is too foggy. Sleep and dream…maybe there will be things you can incorporate into your stories.
For fever reduction, I always cycled through the pain relievers. Switching between ibuprofen and acetaminophen seemed to give me the best results in lowering a stubborn fever. I hope you feel better soon.
I’m glad your daughter is all right now. And sorry you’re still so sick. You’re right, can’t concentrate when the head is fuzzy.
Sorry you’re under the weather. And it’s so hard to think about anything else when our kids our sick. This, too, shall pass and you can get back to writing when everyone is healthy again. And I agree – my stories live in my head, and that is a whole other universe, with its own sense of seasons.
First, I have to say I adore your blog’s title! It’s amazing. Now on to more important things: I hope you get well soon, Loni. It sucks being sick. I just got over ten days of something, and it was awful. I couldn’t focus at all to write. Remember to allow yourself time to rest (even when you don’t want to). You’ll get through this faster than if you try to push yourself, and then, you can get back to doing what you love.
So glad you daughter is better. Take care of you and you get better too. The seasons don’t affect my writing either but I am fascinated with the rituals built around the seasons, which can make a good story.
Oh no! Wow, pneumonia. I’m so glad she’s healthy now.
So sorry that your daughter was in the hospital and that you are sick too. Definitely a time to focus on getting better and your family. The writing will be there when you get better.
I’m so sorry about that flu that hit your family. Take care of yourself. Why would you even think of writing when you’re sick. Get better soon.
I can’t write while I’m sick. My head is usually too foggy to do anything like writing.
When I come down with something, I usually find it best to immediately go to bed and let my body work it out on its own. I tend to get over illnesses pretty fast, so that method may not work for everyone. Hope you feel better soon.
Glad your daughter is better and hope you are soon!
Sorry to read that you are still ill, but I’m glad your daughter recovered. Doing anything while you are sick is tough. Last April, I spent some days in hospital which made writing impossible – at least, I had written some A to Z posts in advance…unlike this year’s chaotic race to get things done.
[https://rolandclarke.com/2018/05/02/iwsg-spring-inspiration/]
That’s rotten, Loni. So sorry to hear you’ve been down and out. Hope your month off at least gave you some time to get well and rest. My only tip about writing when sick is “Don’t” Sleep. Mend. Then come back to the page.
As someone who has kids that terribly sick on a regular basis, including hospital stays, I feel your pain and I’m very glad to hear you daughter is out and doing better.
I don’t have any suggestions for how to deal with writing when you’re deathly ill; all I can say is use this as an excuse to catch up on some much needed rest!
Aww, sorry to hear you and your daughter got sick. =(
Hope you’re getting better. When I’ve gotten really sick in the past 10 years I’ve tried to sleep it off as much as I could, but I’d manage to put up some kind of blog post when I had them scheduled.
Family, job, or just life in general can have such a drastic impact when unexpected things happen, but life does go on and we manage.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I’m so wishy-washy with writing when my life is going along at a normal clip, so getting a cold or the flu understandably throws most of us for a loop. Dayquil can help a lot (at least for me). It’s weird though. When I was sick all of last year, I wrote my post about going through cancer every week. Even when I was totally tired, I really wanted to get that writing done. It helped me get through things and do a lot of processing. It also showed me I whine too much about not getting the writing done 😉
Sorry to hear you’re so sick, Loni, but I’m glad your daughter has recovered. That must have been scary.
My advice won’t be too helpful, I’m sure, but if I’m ill, I take a break. I believe the body has a way of letting us know when those breaks are necessary, and we’d do well to listen. Your writing will still be there when you’re feeling better.
Take care o’ you.
Oh my goodness, Loni! I can’t think straight when I have a cold either. I worry that if I try to write, I’ll look at it later, and it will be gibberish, so there’s no point. I really hope you and your family are on the mend!