I haven't blogged in awhile, mostly because my past few weeks have been summed up with one word: sick. I caught a bad cold not long after our anniversary excursion to SF, and it left me pretty incapacitated for almost a week. Once the cold was done, I had (and still have) a lingering nasal infection, which alternates between bad and manageable daily.

I went to see my ENT about the infection, since these past four months alone I've suffered from three nasal infections. They were all treated with antibiotics, but seemed to always stubbornly return. Some of you know that I got sinus surgery three years ago to deal with this exact same problem, but this year I seemed to have regressed to my pre-surgery days.

My ENT suggested a CT scan and a visit to an allergist, both of which I have yet to do. She suggested a few options: a longer course of antibiotics (maybe a month) to try to kill all bacteria, allergy treatment (maybe allergy shots), or, and this is the last possible resort, surgery again. I'm reluctant to take any more antibiotics, just because I don't want to so much of it in my system and I'm skeptical whether it can really get rid of the infection. I've taken so many antibiotics in the past and it didn't seem to help. Whatever I have in my sinuses just seems very resistant. So I've been trying a more "natural" course of treatment, including rinsing my nose each day, taking natural herbal supplements (grapeseed powder), sleep more, exercise mildly, just in general keep up my health.

It's frustrating and I'm learning patience. The infection mostly leaves me very tired and can be painful in my head/sinuses. I think in the past, I've resorted to antibiotics because after a few days of fatigue, I would just want to get back to my regular self so that I can do all the things that I normally do. I don't like to feel "slowed down" in my daily functioning. So it's been hard for me to accept my more limited condition, realize that I may not accomplish all that I want to, and just be okay with that. Health really does come first. Some days are better than others. Some days I feel "normal" and have a lot of energy and some other days I need to sleep longer, take more naps, not push myself so hard.

So that's me lately, just learning patience, trying to recover and get rid of this infection, plugging away at my dissertation (as usual), and also trying to get ready for this weekend!