PHTHISIS

      Guess what? I'm sick right now. I have cough, in detail ‘phthisis’, or in Indonesian "batuk kering". This disease started the last two weeks. After having meatball as my dinner with my bestie, I felt very thirsty, so I drunk a glass of mango juice. And the next following evening, suddenly I felt an irritating sensation in my throat. It felt like it was being scratched by a small insect or something. I cough to clear my throat. When I looked at myself in the mirror, there’s nothing wrong with my neck. I managed to make stroking motions on it, though it felt like something was keeping my neck from being calm down, and my throat suddenly looked worse than it was. I couldn’t stop coughing. DOH!!! I connected to the internet straight-away, and found out that I was having phthisis.

      The pain worsen until today. The worst thing is in the night, when I find out I couldn't stop coughing because I felt like there was a fishbone is stuck in my throat. My bestie, Citra, asked me to buy something to calm it down. So I decided to buy cough medicine. I’m not gonna post its brand name here. Actually I really don’t like to take medicine to cure my disease, but this phthisis has bothered my activities. So I decided to take it. You know, I have consumed this antitussive for two days yet I still have that irritating sensation. I thought I’m going to be okay. And now my throat is still in bad condition. Then I tried to ask my internet friend, Tora, to do an anamnesis on me. He suggested me to buy another cough medicine. I have drunk it (and antibiotics also, because the chemist asked me to take it together with the antitussive) for two days but the irritating sensation doesn’t want to go far away from me. People got me think if I have Tubercolosis, Pneumonia, Bronchitis. Oh God, what happen to me? What’s wrong with my respiratory tract? I can’t stop coughing. So hurting!!!

      Okay, enough from the introductory. From what I can assume, cough is a natural response that guards our lungs. Coughing is helpful in cleaning of our airways from irritants, like smoke and mucus. This cleaning prevents infection (taken from Wikipedia). Also cough can be an indication of a medical problem. Coughing occurs when our airways become irritated. Usually the causes of coughing are from some materials (like smoke and pollen), medical circumtances, and medicines; although in some cases, coughing is a small symptom of bigger disease. Usually a person can get infected by coughing from doing actions with a person who is having coughing. This reminds me that two weeks ago I played with a baby who was having coughing, according to his mother. That's why the disease spread on me.

       While most people consider cough is a small disease, it can be a serious disease if not being treated well. For small medication, you can drink much of warm water (WARM, not HOT), or just take antitussive. If the disease doesn't go well in 3 days, you better consult a doctor.

     I hope this post will broaden your knowledge about daily diseases that you might get everyday. Remember, preventing is better than curing.

"Life's purpose is not to be understood, but to be lived." –Marisha Eliana