Yesterday I wrote about feeling sick in prison, and I’m disappointed to write that my body still feels weak, my sinuses are still clogged, my head, chest, and throat hurt, and I’m coughing without rest. I didn’t step down from my rack until after five this morning. At six I went outside to exercise slowly, but I only ran two miles. I’ve used all of my cough medicine so I don’t have anything to ease the symptoms of this cold as it works its way through my system.
In the real world, I would be able to purchase a variety of over-the-counter medications to help me feel better. Even though I’ve been tired and lying on my rack for hours longer than normal, my aching head and body make restful sleep impossible. With this illness hanging over me I don’t write much. Other than the Bible, I don’t read either. I flipped through my news magazines but only read the headlines and looked at photographs while marking stories I’ll read when my head clears.
I’ve used most of my phone minutes for the month so my calls home are limited to one minute. Carole could hear my raspy voice and she asked if I was sick. Life would be easier if I could live with Carole, and when I restrict myself to my steel rack, as I did yesterday, I think about being with her. It’s very strange that I’m 46, that Carole and I have been a couple for eight years and we’ve pledged our lives to each other, but we’ve never been closer than a prison visiting room would allow. Regardless of how I feel, I’d rather be sitting beside her in a prison visiting room than anywhere else without her.
[consecutive running log: 3,843 over the past 434 days]
Friday, 19 February 2010
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