Potential reasons I have had a cold for nearly a month:

1. Most of the warehouse/inventory people at work have been passing a super fun cold/sinus infection/ bronchitis-ish combination around for at least two months now. Nobody washes their hands nearly enough. We are not gross, but with the illness being passed around, there is most definitely not enough hand washing going on.

2. Working outside in the cold and rain, and crazy weather mood swings. That is never helpful.

3. Brad also had a cold. We spend time together, and have probably passed it back and forth to each other, which is actually known to happen by something as small as coughing near each other, or even, *gasp* holding hands! Woah!

4. Bouncing back and forth between working overnights, and my normal working days schedule. That can be rough on anyone, sick or well. That in combination with my recent change in my work schedule. All of these things can majorly screw with a body's ability to fight off illnesses that it does when it is well rested.

5. Possibility that my initial illness was caused by a virus and not bacteria, in which case my first antibiotic would not have worked anyway.

6. There is some stress in my life. I have school related stress with my online classes. I have financial stress because I'm just not quite where I need to be and had planned to be by this time in my life. I do have stress. Stress is not good for the body's coping with illness.

I think there's a pretty good chance that it was not caused or sustained by "Manic Depression" which is also known to the medical community as Bipolar Disorder. I am not a Doctor, but I think that any doctor would agree that I am not bipolar. Sometimes I am a little quirky, and sometimes I can be moody. I have highs, and I do get sad sometimes. This stuff is actually pretty normal for most humans though. While I do not live the most healthy life possible, I don't think that I cope with these things in any really unhealthy ways.

To anyone who may be "concerned" that my lifestyle had changed over the past year(s), thank you for your concern, but it is not really needed. People change and evolve over time. Going to nursing school is somewhat of a life changing experience. It takes time, hard work, and requires a significant amount of cutting back in other areas of life to be a success (unless you are one of those crazy natural scholars that have to work at nothing, in which case I hate you)(just kidding). It often requires one to stop working as much, which could cause them to not be able to afford things like shopping trips and vacations. I am in a place in my life where I have made some HUGE sacrifices to make some very awesome accomplishments and and achievements toward my soon to be future career. Sometimes it is not easy, but I am very proud of what I have done!

Does anyone remember when I was still in the RN program? Probably not, because nobody ever saw me then. This was because I lived in Sheffield Lake. I worked, I slept, I went to school. I never went out and socialized with people. I literally went months without even seeing my best friend. Nobody noticed, because I was in a different place. I was ok with that.

I play my xbox and watch movies by myself because not only are they both insanely cheap activities, but it's nice to have "me time" after leaving the forced social world of a retail work environment. Plus, I like them. Also, Xbox live allows me to be connected to, and converse with some pretty fun people that I can't always see live. :-)

I have a very strong core group of friends. While I am not the socialite I was in my younger days, the caliber of the people I associate with and spend my time with is far superior to any group of people I would have ever imagined in my life years ago. I am very lucky to have them in my life, and love meeting the people I meet through them!

Feel free to ask me to do things, but please do not be offended if I turn you down because I have a board test to study for, or I am low on cash, or I really just want to relax and not "go out." Do not feel bad for me if you see me out in public by myself, because it gives me somewhat of a sense of liberation and independence that I feel I need to have in my life.

Concern for my mental status = unnecessary. Thank you. :-)