For the last week, my motivation for doing schoolwork has been...well, not at zero. If my motivation were measured with a speedometer and 60mph was going full throttle, I'm about at 15mph. Small progress but not enough. Baby Nurse--who as of this week is no longer my mentor--told me that baby steps were still steps. And she is right, though I don't think I will be able to finish this course by the arbitrary deadline of 8/25. Closer to 8/31.
For various reasons, I just can't pick myself up to get fully going. Work has been busy, I've been sick and sleeping a lot, the weather is too damn hot...anyhow, I knew this was a risk with WGU. And I need to nip it in the bud. I can't let myself run this course into September. I REFUSE TO.
So I set up some Writing Center appointments for drafts and the final. That way, I have commitments I can't break.
Baby Nurse has decided to take a position teaching in a brick-and-mortar school. She was an awesome program mentor and I wish her well in her new position. She has handed me over to her successor who she said she likes a lot and feels will take good care of me. I have not yet met her, my first appointment with her is next week. I wonder if she's a psych nurse...probably not. There seems to be so few of us running around these programs.
The sick and the sleeping...double ear infection. Whee. I waited three days to see if it would pass, then hauled myself to the doctor. He looked at my history, reviewed my allergies, and started me on azithromycin and decongestants. The medications worked, and I was feeling fine within a few days.
Then a couple of days after the last dose of antibiotic, a rash appeared on my neck. I wasn't alarmed at first: for some reason, the skin on my neck is very sensitive compared to the rest of me, and it's not uncommon for me to have areas of redness there. But then the rash got bumpy. And then spread up the sides of my face. Almost like a bad hormonal acne breakout. The current state of it is that my neck is less bumpy but still red, while most of the bumps have taken up shop on my cheekbones.
Now, I should have caught this: the -mycin. I'm allergic to clindamycin. Not life-threatening allergic, more like here's-a-lovely-rash-that-won't-die-for-two-weeks allergic. The doctor was aware of it too. I guess he figured that azithromycin wasn't likely to cause a reaction. I thought as much too, and I really needed the ear infections out of there. Well, we were both wrong. The last time I saw a rash like this was when I was on clindamycin. Same exact thing.
The good news is that it does go away. The bad news is that it takes two weeks. The worse news is that I have a social event to go to tonight and I refuse to miss it.
My going to Urgent Care is not an option as 1. the rash is more cosmetically unpleasing than life-threatening and 2. I'll end up spending hours there, hours that could have been spent doing schoolwork and relaxing before this event. So I'm doing a little home treatment. oral antihistamines (Vistaril), and topical hydrocortisone and salicylic acid creams. I'm otherwise leaving it alone. Time really is the only cure for it.
Getting excessively harsh with my skin will not clear it up any faster--if anything, it will exacerbate the problem and make it impossible to conceal with makeup. I do have an arsenal of foundations, so I know I can conceal it for the most part. I have the perfect one to use: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Foundation. I strongly recommend this foundation if you have things to hide and want to keep them hidden most of the night.
I can't hide it 100%, but with good foundation, a red dress and a strong lip color, I could perhaps distract from it.
