Ahem.
I recently watched a special on HBO (Yes, we get that raunchy channel. We like it for the articles.) called "I have Tourette's, but Tourette's doesn't have me." It was a very good documentary about children struggling with this disorder. One of the kids equated his tics with "trying to hold in a sneeze, or a cough."
I thought that line was funny, because it IS hard to hold in a sneeze. But a cough? Why would one hold it in? And is it difficult to suppress a cough?
Well, I found out. As you can see, it is in the wee hours of the morn'. I was lying in bed just now, sound asleep, when something tickled my throat. (Inside my throat. It wasn't Daniel with a feather or something.)
I started coughing violently, and pretty soon I was convulsing with the sheer effort of suppressing this cough spasm. I went from sound asleep to painful, breath-holding, lung-crushing, cough smothering in one second. I was trying not to wake Daniel, so I rolled dramatically out of bed and stumbled out into the hallway. There, I suppressed some more because I didn't want to wake Dillon. My eardrums were about to explode from the pressure. My eyes were watering.
And my THROAT was TICKLING.
So here I am, at the other end of the house. In front of the computer. I have been coughing freely now for about 30 minutes, thank goodness, but I wonder if I will ever get to go back to bed.
Ohhhh-kay. I get it. Tics are like coughing. Lesson learned. God bless those poor children with Tourette's!
I thought that line was funny, because it IS hard to hold in a sneeze. But a cough? Why would one hold it in? And is it difficult to suppress a cough?
Well, I found out. As you can see, it is in the wee hours of the morn'. I was lying in bed just now, sound asleep, when something tickled my throat. (Inside my throat. It wasn't Daniel with a feather or something.)
I started coughing violently, and pretty soon I was convulsing with the sheer effort of suppressing this cough spasm. I went from sound asleep to painful, breath-holding, lung-crushing, cough smothering in one second. I was trying not to wake Daniel, so I rolled dramatically out of bed and stumbled out into the hallway. There, I suppressed some more because I didn't want to wake Dillon. My eardrums were about to explode from the pressure. My eyes were watering.
And my THROAT was TICKLING.
So here I am, at the other end of the house. In front of the computer. I have been coughing freely now for about 30 minutes, thank goodness, but I wonder if I will ever get to go back to bed.
Ohhhh-kay. I get it. Tics are like coughing. Lesson learned. God bless those poor children with Tourette's!
posted by Amanda
at
3:46 AM
7 Comments:
Interesting research you've done on the subject!
Well, that clears that one up, I guess!
Did this post make anyone else cough, or was that just me?
OH, ugh. Coughs are always worse when they are inconvenient.
Oh, I love the Pout Pic! So glad you posted it.
Sometimes, HBO shows some very important and relevant stuff - "Band of Brothers" and their baseball stories come immediately to mind. "Sex and the City" had its nasty moments but was probably one of the best-written shows on television in years.
Anyway, sounds like you got an empathy lesson. I'm not too fond of those but they can help others.
Jes - it made me anxious, like I had a cough I was holding in but then I remembered...I didn't have to cough.
Those poor kiddies. That would have been an interesting documentary.
The worst is when you are in an important meeting and you accidently inhale a teensey bit of food and you just can't help but immediately cough like your life depends on it. And everyone looks at you like A) you are dying B) you are crazy.
Sigh.
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