I have spent this year collecting all the viruses and bugs I avoided during lockdowns and social distancing. I am just coming out of a bad run of COVID-19, then gastro (why is vomiting so ew, where is this gas coming from? I'm not even eating!), then a not COVID-19 virus (where my head and feet were freezing cold then burning up but my body was fine - it was super weird). Days turned into weeks, then weeks turned into over two months of feeling sick. Thank golly I can work from home because that would have been a lot of unpaid sick days. The irony is I caught my viruses each time I tried to get healthier by going to the gym. Joy!

It's not really the gym's fault. It's mine. Over the past couple of years, I've not been taking good care of my health. Generally feeling rundown was written off as lockdown blues but when Australia started opening up again and life returned to somewhat normal, I was still feeling like crap. I had moved away from home turf in the south to the north side, was avoiding medical services because of COVID fear, and didn't have my local anythings including a General Practitioner. So for a number of lame reasons, I didn't get my health checked for too long.

When I finally went to a GP, the doctor did a general health check including blood and urine test. I learned I've been Vitamin D deficient, low in B12, iron, zinc and more. I'm now on a concoction of vitamin supplements and also taking melatonin at night to help me get better quality sleep. I have my fingers and toes crossed it'll help, but it's early days and also hard to tell if I'm improving when I've had back to back viruses.

If you haven't connected the dots already... I keep getting sick because my immune system is shot. Now, I'm not saying this as an employee of a healthcare company that offers pathology services. I'm saying this as someone who believes getting diagnosed leads to treatments that will better your health. If you haven't had a general health check in a while and feeling a bit off, listen to your body and go see a doctor. I wish I'd done it sooner and given my immune system a chance to help me recover quickly from illness or fend off the viruses altogether.

Sigh. You live, you learn, right?