Death to the Death Cough
Question of the day: Can Samantha take care of herself on her own?
Let’s find out…
I know, I know, the title of this post is a little dramatic, but I don’t normally jump aboard the sickness train, so this is a big deal. Unfortunately, for three weeks now I have battling what I like to refer to as the “Death Cough,” my current health nemesis. The Death Cough is a little something I acquired during my last week of summer as a counselor at a Christian camp in Tyler, TX, called Pine Cove. Often referred to as “camp crud” at Pine Cove, Death Cough causes me to cough as if I am trying to heave up one of my lungs whenever I attempt to laugh, sing, talk, or basically move my body. My eyes water up and my nose runs, so I have taken to filling my pockets with tissues and cough drops. Death Cough has caused many the awkward situation in the last few weeks, causing me to cough so much that strangers walk over to me and coo, “Are you alright?” to which I croak out, “I’m fine.” Don’t fret though, friends, because this story has a happy ending!
I was more than excited to return to Vanderbilt for sophomore year, “Take 2” if you will, especially because I already have an established, built-in family of loving friends at Vandy who find my antics amusing. The great thing about having a gaggle of friends is that they care about you genuinely, so it did not come as a surprise to me when they immediately started demanding that I go to Student Health at Vanderbilt. Let me just say, Victoria “Icky Vicky” Barner is an excellent nagger. The Zerfoss Student Health Center has been an enigma in my mind up until this week, someplace I always heard about existing but never physically saw. Pretty equivalent to Narnia, I’d say. For a week and a half I resisted, mistakenly believing that I was too tough for medicine. With no mom around and no one forcing me to sleep my 8 hours a night and eat chicken noodle soup, I was going to tough this phlegm out with sheer willpower! Perhaps if I was pre-med I would have know better, but alas, I am a humble HOD major.
So, begrudgingly, I called up the Student Health Center and scheduled an appointment the very next day for a time that fit in my schedule. I cruised in to the health center right on time and got to sign in at a nifty little electronic kiosk, so I didn’t have to do any paperwork! The staff was so patient and kind to me, as I was clueless in my first endeavor at navigating the Health Center. I was immediately called back and a friendly nurse listened to my sob story and prescribed me antibiotics, cough syrup, and lots of other delicious medications and sent me on my way. The Health Center has a cool new program called myhealthatvanderbilt.com, which allows for the nurses who work with you to send you messages about your prescriptions, blood tests, symptoms, etc. I was quite impressed. The doctor let me choose which pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions at, so I chose good old CVS. An hour after my appointment, I received an email from My Health at Vanderbilt saying that my meds were ready for pick-up, so a hop, skip, and jump later, I had antibiotics in my body! I’m hoping in the next few days that the Death Cough will be diminished to a light hack and finally to a simple tickle in my throat.
So the myth is debunked, I CAN take care of myself! Don’t worry mom, I can stay healthy even 11 hours away.