It's been one of those weeks. Those letters strung together in the title sum it up. I have been recovering from a sinus infection, Boo Bear has had an ear infection, followed closely by a cold. And to put the cherry on the proverbial sundae of life, I have had two trips to the allergist this week to determine if I am, in fact, allergic to shellfish.
Monday at the allergist they tested me for environmentally allergies. If you have never had allergy testing, I don't recommend it. The test involves the undressing of the upper portion of your body. You lay down on the table and a nurse comes in with a tray full of little needles that have been marinating in allergens. She then proceeds to stab you in the back 50 or so times, give or take 5 or 6. Then you lay there for twenty minutes to see what kind of reaction you have. I immediatly started itching and when they checked me about halfway through the twenty minute time period, the nurse called out in the hall, "There are too many for me to memorize." Fabulous.
Wednesday I went back and not only did they retest me for everything that I was negative for on Monday, 46 or so, they tested me for the food allergies. Another 50 or so pokes. This time the retest for the environmental allergies wasn't quite as non-intrusive. This time, they stick that little marinated needle under your skin and scratch. Fun stuff. Like 50 little bitty shots. In your back. Once again, I reacted almost immediately and the nurse actually had to put Hydrocortisone cream on me midway, some of my spots were so bad. She comes back into check me at the end and is marking down on a scale how bad my reactions are. We had a couple, of negatives, not many though. We had a couple of, "As big as they can get," and a couple of "Not so bads." At one point the nurse said, "Well, at least you aren't allergic to chocolate." I responded, "I would rather have shellfish than chocolate." She thought I was crazy as I am sure many of you will. My family is big on seafood. Every celebration, birthday's, graduations, etc are always at a seafood restaurant. I have been eating shellfish my entire life. But no more. I am officially allergic to shrimp, lobster and crab. I didn't react to oysters or scallops or clams, but the doc warned me to be careful and the thought of having to stab myself in the leg with an Epi-Pen, well, it just isn't worth it.
When the nurse came in and handed me the list of all the things they tested me for with the things I am allergic to checked, I just sat there and laughed. It's all I could do. I am a walking allergy. Take a look. Behold the list of things I am allergic to:
Click it to big it.
Pretty funny isn't it? It's amazing that I don't get sick more often. He wants to put me on some daily meds as well as allergy shots. I am not sure what I want to do. I don't generally like taking medication on an ongoing basis and I certainly am not wild about shots. Anyone have any experience in this domain. Any alternative treatments you might recommend?
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