A little background: I have been sick with sinus infections since February of 2010. I have done about 7-8 rounds of various antibiotics, 2 steroid shots, and 3-4 steroid dose packs. I have also had a balloon sinuplasty in most of my sinuses in addition to a septoplasty to fix my deviated septum. I did another CT scan a week ago and my sinuses are all at least 50% full, most are 70-80%. All of my drainage ports in my sinus are clogged, and my septum still has a little wiggle to it. So, I am now seeing an allergist who has prescribed me a powerful antibiotic (clindamycin), a fairly powerful steroid (prednisone) and prilosec for acid reflux, which apparently furthers sinus problems.
Under the care of my allergist, I am seeking to get allergy shots done, so I started off with an allergy test yesterday. This is that story.
They drew off on my forearms 56 different spots to do the first round of testing. This is before they got started. The first round is a series of pinpricks with specific allergens on them. 56 damn pinpricks.
It really did itch a lot, but less than I expected. Although #11 there (which turned out to be Johnson grass) really made it worse. By the way, notice that the positive control, #24 (which is supposed to react badly), is reacting less than the Johnson grass.
The left arm wasn't too bad after the first round.
I wanted to kill all Johnson grass on earth, though. That thing itched. After some hydrocortisone cream, I started the second round.
Round 2 takes a select group of those that did not react in the first one. I say select because many that did not react were not tested the second time. This round is now injected just below the skin on my upper arms.
She had to do most of them on my right arm because the left has a tattoo that would make seeing the reaction more difficult. Yes, all those needles hurt. There was a total of 27 done in the second round.
The left arm again seemed to skate by fairly easy compared to the right.
The right arm turned out pretty nasty. This is where it got really interesting.
After cleaning me up and more hydrocortisone cream, I went back into the exam room to await the doctor. The nurse came and checked in on me, so I told her my eyes were itching like crazy. She went to get some children's Benadryl and when she came back I told her they were watering now, with the itching getting unbearable. So I took the Benadryl and sat to wait.
She kept checking in on me, and the itching finally seemed to be subsiding by the time the doctor came in with the results. He asked about my eyes and I told him they itched less, but they felt a little swollen. He told me to take off my glasses and said that my eyes were swelling shut.
So I got a shot of epinephrine in my thigh and a shot of a steroid (dextramethasone) to reduce the swelling and he talked to me about the results.
Turns out I am not allergic to cats, mildly allergic to dogs and severely allergic to many pollens and molds. Shots are in order when I am able to start doing them.
So that's all I have for you. Sorry it's not delicious food today, but soon there will be another cooking piece. I'll leave with you with a picture of my swollen face for you to share with your grandchildren.
On behalf of your father and myself, I apologize for your gene pool, kiddo. Between the two of us, you never had a chance allergy-wise.
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