Sickness

Since I moved to California, I find myself often getting sick. A lot. Let me provide some details:

• September: surprisingly, nothing major, other than the worst allergies of my life kicking in. I grew up in the woods of Maine with never any allergies and only had minor allergies in Boston. One week out here and I'm miserable. Oh, and I immediately gained almost five pounds. Damn cortisol stress hormone! (Just warning you in case you are about to embark on a similar move.)
• October: I develop some sort of sinus infection and spend the eve of my birthday in Urgent Care with a fever. Doctor gives me my first prescription in California for antibiotics. It takes me nearly two weeks to recover.
• late November / early December: somehow I contract a jaw infection. I didn't even know you could get infections in your jaw. The dentist prescribes my second round of antibiotics out here. The jaw and facial pain episode also lasted approximately two weeks. I begin to question if my body is falling apart.
• January: My stomach decides to join to the fun. It's actually just a run-of-the-mill bug, no eating for a couple of days, could hardly move, but I recover fairly quickly from this one.
• February: I come down with an eye infection, receive prescription antibiotic eye drops, and cannot wear my contact lenses for a week. This infection is annoying and doesn't look very good, but it didn't slow me down too much.
• March: oddly enough, I don't think I get sick this month, other than ongoing miserable allergies. I credit my health to my mother: I saw her twice in March - once in California, once in Boston - and she seems to have a way of carrying a wellness aura with her.
• April / May: as detailed in one of the posts below, I went to Maine at the end of April and got very sick from an infected cyst. Round four of antibiotics. The after-effects of this one last into May, I even burst a blood vessel in my eye from the coughing.
• June: I had the cyst removed on June 2, which is actually a fairly minor surgery. Then, on June 8, last Sunday, I got the flu. That day I did nothing except sleep, talk on the phone, and drink water. Well, I took a shower and went to the grocery store, but each of these activities required a prep nap and a recovery nap. I had to decline going out to watch the Celtics playoff game. I was unable to go to work on Monday but forced myself back to the grocery store to buy Gatorade and bread. I slept all day Monday. I made the dumb decision to go to work on Tuesday. Stomach issues developed during the car ride. For the next four hours I was in the bathroom at regular 10 minute intervals. Severe dehydration ensued. I did not leave work until 10:30am due to how bad the morning commute traffic always is - I really couldn't be in a car for more than 20 minutes. I went to the doctor midday Tuesday to ensure this was not salmonella. She confirmed it was viral bug, not bacterial, I received a prescription to calm my intestines, and I proceeded to sleep the rest of Tuesday. On Wednesday I was able to walk upright and had successfully kept down all components of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast), so I went to work. I was absolutely exhausted, had severe muscle pain in my legs, and was obligated to take a nap after lunch, but I made it through the day. Thursday I was definitely feeling stronger, although I had a little relapse of the stomach issues in the afternoon (why did I have a bite of Fran's oatmeal, why?!). Friday morning I felt even better and decided to try a bit of gym action at the apartment (even I knew I still wasn't ready for Club Sport quite yet). I rode the bike - the easiest of all machines - for 12 minutes and nearly passed out. So while I am better, the muscles and endurance aren't quite back yet, and I have missed the gym for a week now. The good part about Friday was that I re-introduced protein to my diet and I suffer no ramifications from my stomach. I think I'm finally on the mend.

Let me confirm for everyone that I never used to get sick that much at all. In my nearly nine months out here, I have filled five prescriptions for these random illnesses, whereas back east I may have had one major bug every year or so. Many people who have been through the same type of cross-country move as I said that being sick regularly is something to expect for the first year. I didn't experience this in my college years in Pennsyltucky or France, but I can say for sure that I most certainly have in California. While it is comforting to know that my regular and varied illnesses do not indicate that my entire immune system has collapsed, I am still frustrated by the constant barrage of viruses.

All suggestions for preventing future rounds of sickness are currently being accepted. Keep in mind that I already take a daily vitamin, drink well over 8 glasses of water a day, eat a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, work out daily, have taken up meditation, and am being very good about sleeping a minimum of 7 hours a night. But please let me know what else I need to be doing to ensure good health!