Another announcement: a parasite

Somewhere in mid-August, or maybe long before, I got myself a parasite.

Cryptosporidium.

If I had HIV, this could be fatal. As it is, it has the potential to provide - without putting too fine a point on it - some gastrointestinal distress. Such a thing has been plaguing my workout sessions and evenings for 6 weeks now, so I finally went to the doctor, who ran some tests and called me promptly with the news the same day the lab got the samples. I'm on some meds and it will be gone in short order.

As a plus, I got a call from the state health department trying to figure out a) where and when I got it; and b) if I prepare food for anyone outside my family or go swimming anywhere that I might spread it. We couldn't and I don't. It spreads through contaminated water, by the by.

My doctor's best guess is that while I may be carrying this bug around, it's probably not what's really causing my discomfort. The fact that symptoms show marked signs of getting better and worse depending on exercise and stress - and that I have a lot of stress lately - leads him to think they just happened upon the cute little fellow as a byproduct and we might as well ask him to either leave or pay rent. So I am to eat more fiber, rest, and try to avoid thinking about the job market or a 2.5 year old or work or the hundred things I ought to be working on or ... riiight. This may be here for a while.