Dichroic Reflections

And the results are in

Apparently I don't have mono. No, I just have some other virus that causes low energy, low-grade fever, clogged sinuses, sore throat, and low appetite and that hangs on forever. The low energy and appetite were just the first week or so, though. My tonsils are still swollen, but now they've gone back to hurting when I swallow. For some reason, swallowing hurts much, much more when I wake up in the middle of the night than it does during the day - right now it hurts, but not badly. What has been really annoying is that my tongue has been very sore for several days now. When I look at it in the mirror, it's got little bumps sprinkled over it, like some of the papillae have gotten enlarged. I've never heard of any illness causing a sore tongue - Google has, but they mostly seem to involve ulcers rather than tiny bumps. I thought at first maybe I'd burned it, but it's lasted too long and covers too much of my tongue to be that. It's an annoyance rather than a major problem, but that and the painful swallowing do make eating a fairly unrewarding experience.

Atfer I complained that the cafeteria has only vanilla pudding and low-cal chocolate frozen custard, then grabbed a plate of fries to go with my soup, the Cubemate pointed out that I seemed to be craving fats. Probalby true, but I've been craving cold food as well - a large part of last night's dinner was an experimental smoothie Rudder made and froze. (Not a complete success.) Giventhe combination of cravings, it's clear that what I really need to do is stop and pick up some ice cream or sorbet on my way home. It's a virus; they can't give me meds to fix everything. I figure ice cream is as likely to be the cure as anything else. And even if not I'll enjoy the process.

The doctor also told me that it's OK to race this weekend, but I should avoid getting dehydrated or overheated. Hm. Racing in Tempe. In July. During daylight, without getting overheated. How is that supposed to work?