There is virtually no airborne substance to which I am not allergic: pollen, ragweed, grass, mold, dust, mites, down, cat, dog and guinea pig. If it can be inhaled, it will make me sneeze. Aside from a two-week period in January, there is always something in the air to aggravate my immune system. If I don't start taking medicine well in advance of spring allergy season, I spend a few weeks wishing I could scrape the backs of my eyeballs clean. And so last summer I began immunotherapy. For the first few months everything was fine. I even felt optimistic enough to get a cat, thinking I would soon be impervious to its danderous effluvium.
Despite the fact that I was getting jabbed repeatedly, I looked forward to my weekly appointment. The doctor’s office was pleasant and sunny, and after getting my shots I sat in the waiting room pleasantly frittering some time away.
A few weeks ago though, I had a mild allergic reaction. It was more annoying than alarming, a sudden onset of sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes. The doctor decided to step down my dose for a few weeks, instead of continuing with weekly increases. The following two weeks I had similar reactions.
I had a more severe reaction last week, this time with Sacha in tow. I began sneezing, and my nose and throat began itching. The doctor kept me for observation. A few minutes later I started having trouble breathing. Although an allergist’s office is a great place to have an allergic reaction, it did not make the sensation of my throat constricting any more bearable. With the doctor and nurses fussing over me Sacha began getting nervous, pinging around the room and hanging on my legs with more than his usual verve. So not only did I need to remain calm with my lungs in brochospasm, but for Sacha’s sake make a good show of how very relaxing decreased small airway function was.
When my symptoms began to subside the doctor checked me one last time and departed for lunch. Did he have a nooner? My symptoms were improving, and I was in the care of extremely competent nurses, but couldn’t he have delayed his lunch assignation by ten minutes?
I spent the rest of the afternoon in a pleasantly abstracted state, thanks to a combination of Benadryl and Albuterol which left me feeling like a narcoleptic hamster on speed.
And thus ended my brief flirtation with an allergy-free existence, thanks to which I gained the somewhat rare distinction of flunking out of allergy shots.
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
08 February 2011
19 April 2010
a brief bringing up to date
1. We postponed a spring break road trip to Boston because I am suffering from a combination of cold and allergies.
2. We got a new car last week, and turned our old, much hated car in today. Despite our fears, we incurred no additional fees for abuse to our much abused old vehicle. Good riddance! I will have more to say about this shortly.
3. I quite like Parks and Recreation; do you?
4. Lately I'm on a roll with the Negroni, which is composed of equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. I would like to say it combines three of my favorite things, until I actually thought about it and realized it's not at all true as only Campari is one of my favorite things, and I could take or leave the gin and vermouth. So really, it's more a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
I was mixing up a couple tonight when David walked into the kitchen and said, "You MEASURE?!" A martini drinker, he added, "I never measure." I was mildly embarrassed to be caught in the act; as one who has a more improvisatory nature, measuring carefully is out of character for me. And yet, I stand by my ritual, as it makes a damn fine drink. I've only this a handful of times, and don't yet have an intuitive feel for it, and I want the proportions to be perfect. Above all else, it amuses me, and puts my scale to good use. I enjoy placing the cocktail shaker on the scale and then hitting the zero button. A Negroni is nothing more than of 1-1/2 ounces each of gin, vermouth and Campari, stirred, and poured over ice and garnished with thin, thin slices of orange, although it strikes me that a slice of cucumber might also be nice. I find it slightly bracing, and quite tasty. Try it, and let me know what you think.
5. Because I am slightly under the weather, Sarah and Gabriel have promised me a breakfast in bed of scrambled eggs and toast tomorrow. Although it sounds promising, I am a little scared about this. I like
my eggs runny, and Sarah prefers hers more resembling steel wool in texture. It's entirely possible they may forget about this in the morning, though I doubt it. In the event that they do not, my controlling nature will be battling hers, even if I am nowhere near the kitchen, and I will have to do my best to convey how sublime the eggs are, which they will be, even if I don't like them one bit.
2. We got a new car last week, and turned our old, much hated car in today. Despite our fears, we incurred no additional fees for abuse to our much abused old vehicle. Good riddance! I will have more to say about this shortly.
3. I quite like Parks and Recreation; do you?
4. Lately I'm on a roll with the Negroni, which is composed of equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. I would like to say it combines three of my favorite things, until I actually thought about it and realized it's not at all true as only Campari is one of my favorite things, and I could take or leave the gin and vermouth. So really, it's more a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
I was mixing up a couple tonight when David walked into the kitchen and said, "You MEASURE?!" A martini drinker, he added, "I never measure." I was mildly embarrassed to be caught in the act; as one who has a more improvisatory nature, measuring carefully is out of character for me. And yet, I stand by my ritual, as it makes a damn fine drink. I've only this a handful of times, and don't yet have an intuitive feel for it, and I want the proportions to be perfect. Above all else, it amuses me, and puts my scale to good use. I enjoy placing the cocktail shaker on the scale and then hitting the zero button. A Negroni is nothing more than of 1-1/2 ounces each of gin, vermouth and Campari, stirred, and poured over ice and garnished with thin, thin slices of orange, although it strikes me that a slice of cucumber might also be nice. I find it slightly bracing, and quite tasty. Try it, and let me know what you think.
5. Because I am slightly under the weather, Sarah and Gabriel have promised me a breakfast in bed of scrambled eggs and toast tomorrow. Although it sounds promising, I am a little scared about this. I like
my eggs runny, and Sarah prefers hers more resembling steel wool in texture. It's entirely possible they may forget about this in the morning, though I doubt it. In the event that they do not, my controlling nature will be battling hers, even if I am nowhere near the kitchen, and I will have to do my best to convey how sublime the eggs are, which they will be, even if I don't like them one bit.
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