shoot me up with that there allergen, please

After suffering from seasonal allergies FOREVER I decided in the fall to get some help.  I know I have shared with you before that my biggest complaint is that the roof of my mouth itches to end all itching.  

Have you ever tried to itch the roof of your mouth?  How 'bout thru your ears?  Or down your throat?  If only a coat hanger would alleviate the pesky itchy sensation without bloodying my pie hole.  

When I was in college, I made an appointment one summer with an allergist.  He did a scratch test for about 105 things.  I reacted to about 99 of them.  The nurse came in the room where I was stretched out and, well -she sort of whisper screamed, 'AHH - are you OK?'

I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame with my back blowing up like a fleshy red dome in response to the 105 needles pricked in me with allergens on them.  Fun.  

The doc sent me home with a binder of suggested treatments:  so many shots this week, then taper down to this, etc.  My folks took one look at it and said in unison (almost typed that unisom but that would imply that they were sleeping):  'This is over the top.  We aren't doing this.'  

Mind you, my brother Pat had severe allergies and asthma as a little guy.  My mom used to drag all of us to the doc every week.  We would watch him get his allergy shots.  Granted, I was never hospitalized with pneumonia as a 3 year old and never spent time in an oxygen tent, but my seasonal allergies raged out of control in the spring and again in late summer.  

My 3rd grade teacher complained to my Mom that I could not read when she called on me because I could not open my swollen itchy eyes enough to see the page.  My mom shrugged and was like, 'Yep, she has hay fever like her dad.'  The end.  

Childhood friends still refer to the trail of Kleenexes I left around the way-back of our red, Chevy Impala station wagon when we road tripped with them to Irish dancing competitions (where I sucked at dancing - totally unlike Curly).  

Getting started.

Enter the allergist I met with in September.  Motivation?  All of a sudden I realized that I was an adult and had not been pregnant or nursing in FOREVER (duh) and we had met our deductible, so WHY NOT?  I wound up going to the same allergist that my brother Pat uses.  She is blocks away from his house and a bit off the beaten path for me, but not terribly so.  

She tested me for less things, but she was alarmed at how quickly and angrily my skin reacted to her scratch test.  I started shots twice a week.  Just before Christmas I was told that I could switch to once a week.  After Christmas it would be every other week for a few sessions and then the glorious ONCE A MONTH.  Hallelujah!  

A few minutes later - welt city.

I keep a fairly busy schedule and racing off to get the shots TWO TIMES a week 12 minutes one way was a challenge.  Mind you, the shots are not offered during 8-5 hours.  I had to get them late Mon or Wed afternoon or in the late mornings other days (yeah, right).  I usually waited for Coach to get home on one of his early days and then I darted out the door calling over my shoulder which baby might need what while I was gone.  

No joke - thinking back on it - I have no idea how I pulled it off.  Not trying to seek praise here for being a super-hero, but I think it was one of those things that I did for 3 months while keeping my head down and just powering through.  Guess how excited I was to see a light at the end of the tunnel here?  

Hold that thought . . .