I don't ask that many questions, but this one is really weighing on my mind. You see, I am 28 years old, but the last time I had a contagious illness of any kind was in March of 2010 when I was still 26 and had a very mild head cold. So basically, the whole year when I was 27, the age I turned that following summer, went by for me with ZERO COLDS, making it the best year of my life!!! I even bought myself a cheap plastic trophy with a golden palm tree about 5" high and typed a label on this computer saying, "Zero Colds at Age 27 in 2010-2011," taping it over the words "Tropical Trophy," to commemorate what was the healthiest year of my life!!! I thought about how I hoped the rest of my life would be filled with years like my 28th (hint: your 1st year is when you're 0-11 months), thinking it was more than possible for me to get through the rest of my 20's without another cold.

However, that all changed on Wednesday, November 2nd, when I thought my throat being sore was just my imagination. (I also couldn't miss college because if you miss a lab practical, you get an incomplete in the course until the Spring 2012 class takes that same one 5 months later because he cannot set-up the room like that again until then.) I mean, it's not like I haven't had a few "close calls" like that when I woke-up with a scratchy throat that faded away within hours, so I thought this had to be yet another of those cases. However, when it only felt worse after I took a nap that evening, I began to worry. So I took another Cod Liver Oil pill, which I haven't missed a SINGLE DAY of taking in over a year (sometimes I take 2 because I can't remember whether or not I did in the morning), then put a dropper full of Hydrogen Peroxide in each ear. But neither of these things helped, and I spent Thrusday blowing my nose because it's like there's no end in sight!

Then I developed a low-grade fever, and the sore throat went down into my chest, something it hasn't done in YEARS! I mean, I haven't seen a doctor about a cold since 1992 when I was 9 years old, but if I keep hearing this high-pitched noise when I breath deep I may have to. I mean, like I said, I've tried EVERYTHING, but nothing seems to do much good. I need to keep Aspirin in my system at all times just to feel normal because my fever peaked at 101.7*F and makes me shiver violently. So what I would like to know is, WHY would I be getting sick for the first time in what would've been 20 months around November 20th had I made it that long, and why is it so much worse than the few colds I've had in the past 5 years? Why would I be getting such a serious cough for the first time in so long that I can't remember when I had this much phlegm or sounded like this last?

I only average maybe one very mild head cold every 12-18 months, having gone 15 months between my last 2 before this one (Dec. 2008 - Mar. 2010), and have just beat my record high of 17 months with this cold-free streak. So I would like to know, why isn't my Cod Liver Oil pill working like it used to and why would I be getting so sick this time if I live a clean, healthy lifestyle (i.e. no drinking, smoking, or tattoos), have NO FRIENDS or children, am a virgin by every definition, and have never missed a day of my vitamins? I often drink vegetable juice instead of a better-tasting soda with a meal just to get the health benefits and am also on an iron pill that contains 100% Vitamin C as well, so why, between all these things I do to stay well, am I sick with this frightening cough that has me barely able to talk after 19½ months of perfect health?