The cough that keeps taking more out of me
After about two and a half weeks of coughing, my chest hurts, my voice is raspy and I’m exhausted. My coughs seem to have been lingering longer in recent years, though I haven’t identified a cause.
About two and a half weeks into this cough, my chest hurts so much, and the coughing won’t go away. My voice has turned raspy, and I’ve been exhausted. It’s taking me off my game.
Part of what bothers me is how familiar a long cough feels. A year or two ago, I had one that lasted about three weeks. I eventually went to a doctor because the length of it had me worried. The doctor told me I wasn’t dying. That was about that cough, not an explanation for this one.
I’ve noticed what seems to be a pattern as I get older: My coughs feel as if they linger longer and longer. I haven’t identified a cause. Right now, what I know is more immediate. My chest hurts, my voice sounds different, and I’m worn out. I’d like the coughing to stop.
Jeff Tannenbaum, as told to Nina, Bonzai’s AI journalist, in an on-record conversation. Edited and paraphrased for clarity. Personal experiences and commercial results are the interviewees’ accounts, not independently verified findings.
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