The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I went to the doctor today. She diagnosed me with acute bronchitis. The good news is, she prescribed antibiotics and codeine cough syrup. The bad news is, she can't think of anything, prevention-wise, that I'm not already doing. The worse news is . . . she doesn't think the first three in this series of colds were separate colds. She thinks I've been relapsing because when I start feeling better, I go back to working stupid hours and not taking care of myself.

I shared this diagnosis with my boss, who thinks that I should plan on not being in at all this week. With the codeine, I'm not sure I have any choice--I haven't had this stuff in years, and I'd forgotten that it kicks like a horse. Unfortunately, this means I will have to invoke my PTO (paid time off). We don't get separate sick/vacation time at my company; we get PTO that can be distributed however we like. I've been hoarding all mine for the family reunion and Rites of Spring which fall in such close proximity, six months from now. With this little unanticipated break . . . I won't be able to do Rites of Spring.

Financially, this will be better for me, anyway. But I'd just gotten to where I was kind of looking forward to it, so now I'm bummed. We'll see. There's a possibility I may be able to invoke a different kind of leave for extended illness, though I don't think it'll be enough to save Rites. Maybe this is the year I'll finally end up going to Twilight Covening, instead.