For two days now I have been plagued by a sinus headache that just wont seem to let go no matter how much Sudafed or Tylenol I take. My head throbs every time I turn my neck or move too fast. Periodically there is some relief as it unclenches its grip on my brain, but it never seems to fully go away, as I find more and more tired and less able to concentrate. I never used to have sinus problems but they started off mildly about 4 or 5 years ago and progressively get worse with the onset of each year’s spring and the subsequent fall. If they continue to escalate in the way I will have to find some other battle tactic or weaponry to fight them with. I don’t mean to sound like I’m griping, they just make it so hard to focus beyond the pressure.

Ok, thats enough of that. As far as other things go we finally have a new person on the unit. If I really want to get technical about it we have got 2 new people…except one isn’t really ours. I’ll start with Molly. Molly is the actual eating disorder patient. Her thick shoulder-length red hair frames her narrow face that ends with an angular chin. Arriving here already at her 75% she isn’t given the gradual caloric additions but instead is right away started at the 3,000 calorie level. I don’t know very much about her yet because, with her arrival yesterday, she has not been so much untalkative but shes quiet in a friendly sort of way. Its as though shes poised to answer a question about herself happily but doesn’t readily provide info without that prodding. I know that shes 20, grew up just outside Boston, and now lives in Ney York, but thats really it at the moment though. I have the hunch though that she’ll be a pretty ok addition to our little bunch of bananas.

The other new entity is Jose. He is Benji’s new roommate. Jose walks around more or less like the ghost of Bigfoot. He lumbers awkwardly through the halls, during the rare times he is not sleeping, buried in sweatpants and a large hoodie. His long black hair hides his face most of the time and everyone’s first guess to his heritage is American Indian but we later learn, in his somewhat broken english, that he is from Mexico. The staff won’t tell us what he is here for although its made clear that his issue has got nothing to do with eating disorders. I suspect its detox of a sort but I don’t know from what substance or for sure thats even what it is. He seems friendly enough and my money is on the bet that if we asked him to clarify he would. However this would require him to be awake long enough to ask. Basically, the reason for all of this is that Jose belongs on a different unit within the hospital and is just here until one of their beds opens up. He doesn’t have the same protocol as us and therefore doesn’t attend our groups or eat meals with us but his strong patchouli scent lingers through our halls long after he has retreated back to his room.

My sinuses now have a fog of medication to wallow in as the Tylenol takes the pain down from the top shelf into a manageable arena. Its still there, just dulled, and, just like anything else, I’ll have to wait and see what the rest of the evening brings.