“And what do you call THIS, young lady?”

Well, a sinus infection, as it turns out. I really should have known something was wrong last week when my energy levels dropped to rock bottom on Wednesday. I was able to kep things going on Thursday when my friend came into town, but by Friday that was all gone. I spent the weekend trying to write and not being able to concentrate on what I was doing. This morning, I woke up, stared at the ceiling and wanted to cry at the thought of getting out of bed, I felt so damn miserable.

So I finally caved and went into a local doc-in-the-box for evaluation (my second doctor in a row just retired and we got passed on to a family practice that I’m not all that thrilled with. I actually went in a month ago to get evaluated for a sinus infection, and left after cooling my heels in the waiting room for 45 minutes, hence my decision to pay an extra $50 and go to urgent care). As it turned out the most excellent doctor I saw confirmed my diagnosis of a bacterial sinus infection (the apple green mucus is the dead giveaway), said my chest sounded good so it had remained confined to my head, gave me a scrip for Biaxin, and then did something that no one since my first doctor here has done — offered me a steroid shot.

Hell yes, I said, and bared my hip for a nurse who had the most amazing touch with shots — I literally did not feel the needle at all, just a cool sensation going into the skin. She said, “I’ve taken this before so let me tell you what’s going to happen. It’s a mixed dose — the first steroid starts working immediately and you’re going to feel so much better. The second is time-release and will kick in around three to four hours from now. It’s great but trust me, you’ll need to take something to help you sleep tonight because you will be staring at the ceiling at 2 AM due to this stuff.”

Hoo boy, she was right. Within five minutes I could feel pretty much every sinus and gland in my head opening up, my energy levels went through the roof and my brain came back online for the first time in about a month. I spent the rest of the day dropping off the Biaxin scrip, driving out to another suburb to take care of a friend’s cats while she’s on vacation (I’ve been doing this since Saturday), driving back to pick up the scrip, photographing jewelry I’d made weeks ago for my Etsy store (see left) and promoting that, going out for food, and then, THEN sitting down to writing.

The proof in the pudding? I knocked out 3,377 words in four hours. For the last two weeks it’s been taking me 8+ hours to do that. I already told Ramón that we’re going back to LegacyER for any future sinus infections or other non-chronic issues. Oh, man, I feel good.

Now, because I was out for the count over the weekend I fell way, way behind — I mean, right now I should be at 72,000 words and I’m actually at 48,647, giving me a deficit of 23,353 words. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss my publishing deadline because that’s how professionals roll. So I’m giving myself two extra days to finish the first draft, but will do my utmost from here until Sunday to crank out serious wordage and make my original draft deadline. I can do it if I can manage two 10K word days and one 6K day. Hey, it’s doable!

Today’s stats:

Started With: 45,270 words
Wrote: 3,377 words
Total word count: 48,647 words
What else did you do today, Nicola: Cat chores, cat chores at my friend’s house, got my dumb ass some steroids and Biaxin, cleaned up cat hork, photographed six jewelry pieces for sale and processed said photographs, went out and got food, and generally felt like a human being again.

Writing Tips: No one writes very well when they’re sick, and a sinus infection is one of those things that can come and go, come and go, come and go until you’re so used to it that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to be well. I know writers are usually among the last to have health insurance, but if it’s dragging on for weeks and weeks and you’re feeling worse and worse, you’re simply not going to have the energy and presence of mind to write. If you can, go see a doctor and get whatever meds you need. If you can’t, see if there are any viable remedies for what you think is ailing you (in the case of a bacterial infection, stuff that has antibacterial qualities like raw honey, garlic, and frankincense essential oil (not the fragrance oil), which has been scientifically evaluated and shown to boost antibiotic efficiency, can be lifesavers).