Thursday, March 06, 2008

T MINUS EIGHT DAYS: Oh, the Allergies!

Do you remember, dear reader, that brief moment in time during which I thought I'd be able to best my allergies? I was so young, so hopeful last month. After going through allergy shot therapy for three months, I was almost halfway to a cure. I was so close to fulfilling my dream of someday adopting two dogs and three cats.

I was there.

I almost had it all.

That is until the close call. Last week, my allergist sat me down for a heart-to-heart. She explained to me that I'm in that minority of the population that doesn't react very well to allergy shots and that complications arising from this fact are:

1) this first stage of allergy shot therapy, which lasts 6-8 months for normal people would have to be prolonged to probably close to a year since my hyper-sensitivity would require our backing off and slowing down the dosage of allergens I'm receiving weekly;

2) I would have to take two different anti-histamines before the shots;

3) I would have to stay in her office under observation for anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour after receiving a shot/s;

4) staying under the doctor's observation for 45-60 minutes after she administers the allergy shot doesn't guarantee that I won't get hit with a major asthma attack after I've left her office, in which case...

5) ...I would have to carry an epi pen around with me at all times;

Plus, we don't have any guarantee that I will be cured of my allergies after I've risked my life getting allergy shots.

I told her I needed time to think about it.

Sigh.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don`t risk your health! Adopt fishes or a happy cat without hair!

Anonymous said...

my mom has to carry an epi pen because of her seafood allergies.

ok there was absolutely no point to that...haha.

miss your voice. phone date soon?

MP...you have taken our phone time away. Can I borrow her for an hour this weekend?

thanks.