Still Sick (And Sicker Than I Expected)

So, the CaptianCaption vs fleas saga that I chronicled about 2 weeks ago is finally winding down. Combing my cats has consistently shown either a total lack of fleas or the uncommon single juvenile flea. I've vacuum and sprayed all the egg/larvae/pupa with flea killer. I'll still very rarely see a stray flea, but it's never been an adult, meaning these are from recent egg hatching and that I've almost certainly gotten all the adults who could lay eggs as that's the true horror of a flea infestation: you think it's over, but they're back within 2 weeks from eggs you missed.

Like I mentioned, this was a fucking pain to do when sick with cat scratch fever that smothered me in fatigue (in addition to the other symptoms I've marked). I'm on a new and stronger antibiotic (azithromycin), but it both felt like it was helping but also totally wasn't; if anything, I'm even more tired, and I've now got this awful skin rash on both arms (but primarily the left one) that's been driving me crazy.

This was surprising. Rashes can appear around the infection site, but I was nearly 100% certain this round of it started from my right hand when one of my cats bit me during play. I didn't think it broke the skin. I didn't realize it had swollen up until later because CBS has made my right arm's signals "unreliable" to say the least, and it likely got drowned out compared to the usual constant pain but also numbness. I also didn't see it as the bit was at just the right spot on the back of my wrist to be obscured by the rest of my right hand whenever it's tilted for tasks (i.e., typing, mouse use) but not low enough to touch whatever surface my wrist is resting on.

I didn't know what the hell was going on, but results from a recent blood test confirmed my suspicion that this is 100% from cat scratch fever... except it isn't.

I almost certainly also have mononucleosis (better known as just "mono") caused by an ongoing Epstein-Barr Virus (EVB) infection (I'm specifying as mono can also be caused by other viruses), which means...

Yeah, no wonder I feel like total shit. I'm getting double whammied by two diseases with overlapping symptoms, particularly with the "extreme fatigue" part. I feel like I'm moving in molasses and I've got this total lack of energy to do anything. Even typing this short post has been extremely fatiguing.

I can't eat a bowl of rice in front of me despite knowing it tastes amazing because it was made in a fancy new rice cooker I got. It's a more expensive model that can do more than just white or brown rice as I was told brown or black rice can help with neuron health (specifically because the way the body metabolizes B3); I needed one that is actually going to be capable of dealing with those varieties as they take longer to cook (I think there's something about the more complex carbs of rice with the hull intact helping serotonin and dopamine production, but the correlation seems a bit shaky). Sure, washing rice to remove the starch for better use in the cooker takes some effort, but this is almost the simplest food I can get that isn't me just eating something raw.

So, what the fuck does this mean? Not the rice rant, but me having both cat scratch fever and mono.

Unfortunately, as I am now, I am absolutely incapable of getting any more writing done than basic Patreon posts. This is my limit.

This sucks. I want to write "actual" writing, not only for readers who want more content, but for me, as I hate feeling useless and "on standby." I think the cat scratch fever is getting properly nuked by the antibiotics, but the main symptoms of mono can linger for weeks and the fatigue can last for months, and there's not any real treatment besides staying hydrated, getting a lot of rest, taking over-the-counter medications for symptoms, and going to a doctor if you think it's damaging your internal organs.

So, uh... I guess medical leave for 2-ish weeks? I would say this is almost a forced vacation after October was one of the worst months of my life, but I tend to recover by throwing myself into my work, which I really can't do right now. I'm struggling to even get this post out the door.

To summarize, I (CaptainCaption) am gonna be on "medical leave" for at least 2 weeks. I'll check in after to see if my condition is better, but it likely won't be resolved until the end of this month (or later).

See you then, and stay healthy, folks!