I’m tired of being sick. Since September, I have been suffering with a cough that makes it hard to breathe.
At first, I thought the cough was a symptom of a cold because my friends and I were stuck in a hailstorm for more than five hours at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia waiting for a bus to bring thousands of fans back to the parking lot to evacuate.
Needless to say, I’m never going back to Blue Ridge Rock Festival.
The cough went away, but then in October it came back stronger. My entire friend group was affected by the cough, so we named the cough after our favorite bar in Philadelphia because that was the common denominator.
I went through two bottles or Robitussin and two bottles of Nyquil that month to suppress the cough during the day and at night. Eventually, the medicine stopped working.
At one point, I lost my sense of smell, which is a COVID-19 symptom, but I tested negative for COVID-19. I also lost my hearing briefly in one ear because I was so congested.
Several friends said that the cough was a symptom of a terrible sinus infection.
However, when I went to see my doctor she said it was allergies and told me to try Sudafed and Flonase nasal spray, which worked until it didn’t work.
One day in January I woke up with bloodshot eyes with an excess of mucus and crusting in the corners. My boss told me to go home and see a doctor.
I went to the nearest urgent care in Hammonton, and guess what the doctor said? He said it was a sinus infection.
I was so mad because months earlier I told my doctor, “Hey, I think I have a sinus infection because that’s what my friends have,” only to be gaslit and told that I didn’t have it.
This hasn’t been the first time a doctor gaslighted me.
In the summer of 2022, I was in the hospital and a doctor told me that in a few weeks the pain on my side will be gone.
Fast forward a month later and I was back in the hospital with worse pain and the doctors there were like, “Yeah they should’ve gotten rid of it last visit.” The infection was so bad I was being monitored for sepsis, a condition that shuts down your organs while fighting an infection and can lead to death.
Thankfully, the doctors finally took care of me and the pain on my side is gone. However, doctors continue to be the cause of the biggest headache pain. When will they listen to us when we speak up about how we’re feeling in our bodies?
After taking antibiotics and other medications, the cough is still here like a tenant that refuses to leave after not paying rent for months.
The biggest takeaway is this, if you feel like something is wrong trust your gut instinct. Take care of yourself before it gets worse.
And if anyone from town is also suffering with a sickness that won’t go away, I hope you feel better soon.
Kristin Guglietti is a staff writer for The Hammonton Gazette.