The Ailing Panther

I'll start off this post by apologizing for any spelling mistakes or poor wordsmithing. As the Panther is not feeling very well, this post is going up as is without any proof reading on her part. Although I have been known to suddenly find myself alone on the wrong side of the line of decency, I don't think we will run into any danger with today's post.

I have seen the Panther in various states so far; bad mood, sad, down and out, bad hair day, just days with bad hair (tes cheveux sont fuckés!) but I had yet to see her in such a sad shape as today. While she thought at first it was simply a very bad case of seasonal allergies, I knew all along it was a bad cold. Hey, I should know. I've spent all my childhood and teenage years playing doctor and it's now paying off!

So, I made sure she wasn't in need of anything all evening, cooked her a nice comfort meal and sent her of to bed with a clever mix of shiraz and the strongest over the counter cold medicine I could find. I am also a fine pharmacologist. I usually just rely on tequila shooters to soothe my female patients but I knew right away that I needed something a little stronger tonight.

Before I go clean up the kitchen I will leave you with a couple of questions. I'm certain that you will do anything you can when one of your kids is sick but, do you do the same when it's your spouse? Do you leave him or her pucking their guts out over the toilet bowl or do you go and pat their backs and wipe their mouths? Will you stay home from work to nurse them better or just check up with the occasional phone call?

Comments

[James Chartrand - Men with Pens]

Oh man, I sympathize. I'm just coming round the bend from a sinus cold myself and let me tell you, it wasn't bloody fun. My teeth still hurt today and my nose is raw from blowing it. (Makes my sex appeal... intriguing.)

The good news? It was a short cold, relatively speaking. I'm into day six, with day one being off the weather, two three and four living hell and five not so bad. Six is promising.

I love Shiraz. What'dja buy, Bin 555? Jacob's Creek?

[Natural]

I'm not wiping a grown man's throw up off his mouth. Sorry. I will take care of him, lots of cuddling, comfort, meds, waiting on hand and foot.....if he can't get around I'll stick around. Of course in my case I would be referring to a man and a simple cold that a woman would shrug off is the end of the world and....i'm on my death bed here, can you get me a towel.

[XUP]

Hmmm. Good questions. If it's a rare and unusual event (my spouse being sick) I'd pamper them for a day or so. If they're always getting sick because they don't take care of themselves, then I'll leave them to it. My mother nursed my father through an entire year of a terminal illness that evolved into him being as helpless as an infant near the end. Now THAT was a truly awesome expression of love. I'm not sure I could do that. I'm not a very good nurse.

[Brett Legree]

Please pass on "get well soon" wishes to Panther.

Yeah, I spent most of my sick leave in the last few years looking after family, including my wife. I pay the price for that though...

Nothing a little "home medicine" aka red wine won't fix!

(@Natural - LOL, the infamous "man cold"...)

[Urbane Lion]

James: No unfortunately it was a depanneur special, Wallaroo Trail or something. Seemed like a blend of Cab and Shiraz. Was too lazy to go to the SAQ.

Natural: Yeah well men usually don't complain unless it's really really bad so I guess you'd stick around eh?

XUP: I agree that if you're always asking to be sick then you should hire a private nurse! As for caring to a loved one with a terminal illness I just hope I'm never confronted with that one. It must be awful emotionally speaking.

Brett: Yeah I rarely get sick. My sick leave is either used when my family related leave runs out or when I need a 'stress' leave. But then again, it's usually nothing that copious amounts of alcohol won't fix!

[Janice Cartier]

Honestly, aside from getting the personal gift guess down...the next best thing a man can do is nurture an under the weather female. Damn that Panther...she shopped really well with you. :-)

...well, maybe not the next best thing...but it IS right up there. Big Points Lion. Big Points.

[Urbane Lion]

Janice: Thanks for the kudos. Luckily for me she was previously in a very bad relationship. That means it's a heck of a lot easier for me to look good. Aaaaah.... what the world needs is a little more bad boyfriends! Makes me look that much better!

[Amy Derby]

Here I came looking for a little indecency (or at least some bralessness), and you didn't manage to cross over to the 'wrong side of the line of decency' even once. ;-)

I saw the panther's name pop up on Twitter today, so I assume this means she's still alive and not puking. Congratulations on your home-based pharmaceutical skills. I'm all for drug a fever, drug a cold.

I don't hold anyone while they puke. I do a lot of other crazy stuff, but I have to draw the line somewhere. :-)

[James Chartrand - Men with Pens]

Aw man, cold, you guys are just cold.

I'd hold someone while they puke. I'd get a damp facecloth and fold it up and put it on their forehead and make sure they had a blanket to keep them warm while they threw up and I'd give them a glass of water to rinse their mouth and flush the toilet and all that jazz.

Because when you really love someone, you do that.

Of course, if they throw out their arm and say, "Go away! I'm fucking being sick in here, leave me alone!" I'd say, "Yeah? Have fun. Here's your wet rag. I'm going for a beer."

[Kelly]

Lion,

I'm a nurturer. I don't leave a person hung out to dry, whether it's a little person or a grownup. When I was a kid, my dad was the stay by you, bring a cold towel, find your teddy bear, kind of person, while my mother was the "I can't be around sick people" type. I love my mom, but from a real early age that wasn't a trait I wanted to adopt.

I think I'm naturally a softie anyway, but I still make conscious efforts to be extra good to folks when they're feeling awful.

Maybe they'd do the same for me someday, or maybe I'd just feel good about myself. Either one works.

Send some Quebecois down here. We don't have enough softhearted gents like you, Lion. Have I said lucky, lucky Panther before? :)

Panther: Hope you're feeling better soon! Daughter and I just got over a week of awful back-to-school colds. Rest, rest, rest. Zzzz...

Regards,

Kelly

[Alex Fayle]

I will do whatever I need to so that my loved ones feel better - totally for selfish reasons. I'm a very empathic person and so feel their pain like it's my own - the faster they feel better, the fast *I* feel better.

[Urbane Lion]

Amy: Just you wait until the Panther is back on her feet and all settled into the house and I'll give you some indecency! LOL And I think likewise, if there's a drug that can make you feel less miserable, for crying out loud take it!!!

James: Yeah, I'd throw in the towel too but not before giving the person a stern lecture on the dangers of alcohol abuse (all this with a beer in hand of course!)

Kelly: You know what? I'm surrounded by single women but single Quebecois men are extremely rare. Kinda like an endangered species. Yup, we're that good!

Alex: Yeah, and don't you feel completely helpless when you take good care of them but they still feel like crap?

[Kristin Fitzgerald]

My hubby is rarely sick, but when he is I could absolutely not stay home to "tend" to his sickness. It seems whineyness is one of his first symptoms with any illness. A little TLC while letting him take some recuperation time, but definitely not calling in sick.
Hope that Panther feels better soon; sounds like you are a great nurse!

[Urbane Lion]

Kristin: Thanks for the compliment. just got back from my trip and happy to see the Panther feeling much better!

[Nicole Brunet]

While I would gladly wipe, mop, flush and otherwise baby, I'm afraid Christian is a crap patient! He'd rather I leave him entirely alone, and I try to, I really do! I only ask him if he needs anything every few hours or so. ;)

[Urbane Lion]

Nicole: Well then have no pity and just leave him alone in his snot and vomit! And when he hits the bottom of the barrel and begs for help, play hard to get! God I can be a bastard!

[Nicole Brunet]

@UL LOL. I operate on the sneaking suspicion that deep down he really loves the attention. If not, oh well!

[Urbane Lion]

Nicole: Next time he's sick just ignore him. If he moans louder and louder then your theory is correct! LOL Sneaky devil isn't he?

[Barbara Swafford]

Hi Lion,

I hope the Panther is feeling better. You're a good care giver. I'm real good at being a nurse to my husband if he's ill. Ironically, if I'm sick, I want to be left alone in my misery. Go figure!

[Marie]

Helping someone when they are feeling crappy is a tough one to call. When it comes right down to it we like to feel that we are invincible and getting sick is not something that happens to us. Sure we get colds when we are working but go to work anyway and spread it around to all our workmates but then there is the down and dirty sickness that is either head feeling like it weighs 110 kilos or guts that just won't quit. Basically, it means that we don't have our guard up and as a result we have to let someone see us when we are weak! If you are lucky enough to have someone like I do, who quietly comes into the room and asks if there is anything he can do then you have a gem. When I have the pucks, he is right there holding my head and helping me to get my jello-like legs and body back into motion. He quietly cleans up the mess of projectile vomitting while I sleep in a fevered mess in my bed. He just gets things but doesn't necessarily talk while he does it. He gently brags to others how strong I was and makes me feel good about being weak but only keeps up this behaviour until he sees that I am back to my old craggy self and then sets me free to be me again. That is a great partner!