Movedtoportlanditis

This post is an apology to everyone that I have fallen out of touch with over the last few weeks and months. It's a pathetic excuse that some of you have heard, but one that I'm going to make anyway: I'm allergic to Portland.

What does this have to do with not calling you? Well, basically, I've been sick for the past three and a half months. A few weeks ago I got tired of waiting it out and hoping it was just the holiday round of sicknesses made ever worse by being unused to the local germs. Hopes dwindled that I was simply an example of how American colonization would have fared if the natives were the ones who had been immune carriers of the bubonic plague.

So I went to the doctor, had several little vials of blood drawn, and waited for the results. It turns out there are two things at play here: (1) I am allergic to the mold that thrives everywhere in wet, mildly temperate Portland and (2) I have a Vitamin D deficiency from the lack of sunlight in Portland. My Vitamin D levels were at 1/3 the minimum acceptable level, and at 1/5 the level my doctor likes to see.

I feel lucky that I haven't wanted to throw myself off the roof. Vitamin D apparently acts as both a hormone and a vitamin, affecting your mood as well as your immune system. I've basically been catching every cold that comes my way and suffering mild depression that has manifested itself as an intense lack of energy and lethargy. It's about all I can do to be productive at work, and then talking to friends and family seems like a pretty daunting task when I get home.

The good news is that supplements, tanning beds and the proximity of summer mean that I will hopefully be back to normal soon, and I intend to catch up when that happens. I miss a lot of people. Until then, however, I'm going to take a nap. Goodnight.