Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body.

Perhaps y'all remember me mentioning a couple posts ago my bout with the plague, and the subsequent update about going on a second round of antibiotics.

Two days after I finished the second round of antibiotics, all my symptoms came back, growing progressively worse by the hour. If the pain in my throat and head had not gotten so severe, I probably would have just done like I always do and ignored the illness until either it went away by itself or it killed me. But when you have difficulty swallowing and breathing because your throat is so sore and swollen, that's kind of a problem.

I went back to the doctor. After not much of an examination, Doc (the THIRD doctor I had seen at this new place) was like "oh you just have allergies," and sent me on my merry way.

I know I am not allergic to the outdoors because the congestion actually gets a lot better if I am outside. I also know I am not allergic to my cats. With an allergy to something like spring or animals, the symptoms tend to improve a bit when you are nowhere near the source of said allergies.

My symptoms did not go away. Ever. They just got worse and worse every day that I continued to be ill. (it's been a f**king month like seriously)

As I contemplated that, a light bulb appeared in my increasingly fuzzy thoughts.

What causes allergy/severe cold-like symptoms that get progressively worse as time goes on, and symptoms that do not improve if you are away from the cause of those symptoms? You'd think I would have come to this conclusion earlier, as I have suffered this before.

MOLD.

I did a thorough search of the apartment. Lo and behold, the very back of the fireplace was pretty well covered in mold.

As of last Friday, I have been staying at Mum's because my health had deteriorated to the point where I needed to be within easy driving distance of a hospital, and also needed to be around people with access to vehicles in case I needed to get to said hospital. 

As of now (Wednesday) I am gradually getting better. I still spend most mornings having coughing fits and hacking up the mushroom colony that is likely growing in my lungs. Landlord has not only fixed the mold situation, they are also doing some kind of renovations to the side of the house to try and prevent that side of the house from getting so damp. I am hoping my symptoms will have fecked off by the weekend so I can move back home.

On the plus side, my proper doctor has given me vitamins* in both pill form and cough syrup form. It's good craic.

On the down side, since I am a walking biohazard, I have to miss the LGBTQ parade on Sunday. Our church is handing out cold beverages and snacks for free because it is hellishly hot out and anyone parading around in the sun is going to need it. Also we want to be an example of what Christianity SHOULD be about--love and acceptance for all, and not judging others. So if any of y'all happen to be in the Warwick, NY area this Sunday, there will be free food and drink at the Warwick Assembly of God.

Until next time.............