D for Dropped

…a class, that is. I’m really not happy about it either. We’ll back up a bit so that I can explain things in order. I’m still sick!  I took Monday off of work to catch up on rest as instructed by the hospital. On Tuesday, I felt incredibly out of it, so I called into work again and stayed home and slept all day. I figured that all the medications they'd pumped me full of in the hospital were finally working their way out of my system. Yesterday, I woke up feeling worse than I had since Saturday. I remembered that the only thing the hospital had found on my CT scan Saturday was a little fluid in my left sinus. (Well, besides me ginormous brain of course!) At the time, it wasn’t cause for concern, but I thought it had probably turned into an infection. No...that's not right. I didn't think it had turned to an infection; I knew it had. I have become a pro at self diagnosing sinus infections, because I've had so damn many.

As Music Man got ready for work, I asked if he’d be able to come home early that afternoon to take me to urgent care, which he said he would. I called into work again, slept until around 10:30, got up, showered, and waited for Music Man to come and get me. I was dizzy, my head felt heavy, I had practically  no energy, and I had a slight fever. (Yep! It's a sinus infection.) At the clinic, I was diagnosed with a major sinus infection (no surprises there) and prescribed antibiotics and rest. I called work when we got home and left a message for my boss to let him know that I’d be out the rest of the week.

My Psychology class started at 6 o’clock, and there was no way I was going to make it with how I felt. I emailed the instructor, remembering her strict attendance policy, to ask what she thought I should do about missing the class. I explained my circumstances; not by way of making excuses, but just to explain why I wouldn’t be there. I told her I was willing to work to catch up for missing the first class, and asked if she’d explain the homework that would be due the following week.

She wrote back within an hour and told me that she couldn’t change the attendance policy and that “missing simply isn’t okay.” While she said she couldn’t advise me on what to do, because there are “other people with that job,” she said that not attending that night meant I would be taken off the roster and someone else would grab my spot. She made sure to let me know that there was a waiting list for her class, and plenty of students who would readily jump into the spot of an absent student. I didn’t really understand that part, because what was she going to do? Call these students to let them know: Surprise! You get to come to class tonight!

That’s not realistic. Meaning they would be notified this week, and they’d attend class for the first time next week, which is exactly what I was willing to do; I simply needed to know what I'd miss in terms of lecture and class discussion and what work was required of me between now and next week. She went on to explain to me how demanding accelerated classes are, as though I didn’t know that, and condescendingly recommended that perhaps I take a full semester course because they’re more flexible about attendance.

Needless to say, her attitude was a major turnoff. I’d obviously started off on the wrong foot with this woman. Even if I did do the work to catch up and did turn up in class next week, she’s already got a chip on her shoulder where I’m concerned, so do I really want to battle that for 10 weeks?  My answer was no. So I did something I was hoping to never have to do; I dropped the class. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, but I only had until the 15^th to drop without being charged for the class. This means my whole degree plan will now be half a semester off, so I’ll have to double up on classes for half a semester or something. I’m pretty pissed about it.

I don’t think I’m special, and I don’t think I deserve special treatment in any way, but I’m a straight A student at this point. Perhaps if she’d taken the time to figure that out, she’d have known that I would’ve had no problems staying caught up in her class. I’ve taken enough classes at this point to know that the first day of class is usually administrative stuff—reading the syllabus, going over the instructor’s expectations, etc. In other words, it’s not as though I was missing out on anything major. I simply needed to know what some of the assignments on her syllabus meant—what exactly was expected of me. That’s it!!!! It would’ve taken her just as much time to write that all out in an email as it would’ve to write the response she did send. What a fuckin’ BITCH!  I seriously hope there are other instructors that teach Psychology, so that when I sign up to take it this summer, I’m not stuck with her.

Whatever. My health has got to come first, so I did what I had to do. After resting all day today, I’m feeling much better than I have all week, which is so good. Hopefully one more day of rest tomorrow will see me finally becoming healthy for the first time this year! I’m sooooo sick of being sick!!!!!  I will be going to my doctor for a physical in a couple months. I plan on talking to her about whether she thinks sinus surgery would help me. I also plan on getting a referral to an allergist—if I can get my multiple allergies under control, sinus issues would probably decrease greatly. We shall see.

Something’s gotta happen to make things better. I cannot continue to deal with sinus infections every other month. It’s getting ridiculous that I have to worry so much about getting even the simplest cold because that cold has the ability to take me down for a whole week by turning into a sinus infection, which is exactly what happened this time around. I’m reeeeeeeeeally hoping this is the end of me being sick for a while. I think I deserve to be healthy for the rest of the year after spending the first few weeks of the year so sick. Here’s to hoping!!!