I'm sorry to hear about your illness, Steve. I hope you get better soon.

A few years ago, I had a cold that would not go away. Cold, cough, then earache, then lingering cough. Finally the urgent care place referred me to a doc who said, "It's been raining. You have allergies." He gave me an injection which really, really hurt, but my cough was gone within hours.

I'm not saying I had allergies the whole time. It definitely started out as a cold.