I am a: Quirky sysadmin. Geek. Gamer. Comic fangirl. My little space, my home on the interwebs. I blog about personal stuffs, work, various coding projects, and anything else I feel like.

I had fully intended to write up yesterday doctor’s visit’s events when I finally got home yesterday afternoon, but instead opted for this post on social media before having a couple stiff drinks and going to bed:

I’m home. Waiting on pharmacy to fill my new prescriptions. I’ll write up everything later. I’m hurting, tired, and unhappy. My back and both shoulders are on fire from being pricked and injected with crap. I took a Benadryl and am waiting for it to kick in so my skin will settle down. Showered and going to lay down for a bit.

Yesterday was a very long day. I don’t know why, but I had talked myself into working from home after my appointment was over with. Big mistake. I thought I could handle it.

The morning started off well. I got to the clinic a tad early, so they let me come in a half hour before I was scheduled. The nurse started me off with some breathing tests to see if I have asthma. I do. Big surprise. So I get a breathing treatment, and then tested again. Yep, still have asthma. I’m given a sample inhaler and written a prescription for one to carry around all the time now.

I haven’t had one in years because I was never actually tested and diagnosed.

At this point I’m still feeling pretty chill and am waiting on the doctor to come in. I’m given a control test on the inside of my left arm to make sure that I’ll react to the samples that will be given to me for the skin test. Yep, I reacted. My skin welled up and displayed the colors of a sunset. I looked like I had just been stung by something very painful. The nurse was pleased and said it was “a very good reaction” … great …

So the next test was on my back. They essentially scraped my skin with various allergens to see how I react to them. I reacted to everything. My back was on FIRE! Again, the nurse was pleased with my skin’s reaction. At this point I’m given many subdermal injections in both shoulders to gauge how reactive I am to certain allergens. Again, I had a great reaction.

I was surprised to find that I am more allergic to dogs than I am cats, and that I am “extremely allergic” to all grasses. I mean to the point that when the doctor came in to go over the results, he advised that I wear a mask if grasses are in bloom or if they’re being cut. I was ok up until about this point. My energy was almost completely drained, and after the first set of subdermal injections I broke down from the stress.

I was given more medications to take for my sinus issues, but treating my allergies was going to be painful. I would need injections, and a lot of them. As the doctor was discussing my treatment options, I was silently freaking out inside. He thought I was freaking out about the possible cost. No, I was freaking out about the needles. Multiple-hour sessions every single week, for at least 3 years. And these were the kind of treatments where I was going to be needing an epi-pen and around the clock monitoring, as they anticipated me going into anaphylactic shock each time.

Oh, and I was not going to start seeing results until after at least a year of them. (Seriously?)

We discussed other things I could be doing around the house to ease my allergies. Add a unit to my bedroom to filter the air. He suggested I close my bedroom door and keep Bruce and Selina out when I sleep. (yeah, that’s not happening) He bluntly said that the best option would be to get rid of my pets entirely and have no animals for a while.

Say what, motherfucker?

Yeah, that’s not happening either. I asked if the shots were absolutely necessary, to which he admitted no, but said that my quality of life would be better in the long run with them because I would have better immunity to the things that are triggering my allergies.

I came home yesterday feeling angry, upset, tired (I had been up since 2:30am), and physically and emotionally drained. I had two shots of bourbon, took a shower, then collapsed into bed … after of course texting my boss to let him know that I would not be working from home.

I’m feeling a lot better today, but I have decided that I will not be doing the immunity shots. I’ll take my medication, use the sprays and eyedrops, but I will not be getting rid of my cats or avoid contact with all animals. Anyone who knows me knows that’s crazy talk.

So … yeah … that’s where I am right now.