True Stories
The pollen in Virginia is awful. It’s a hard state to live in if you have allergies.
I get allergy injections once a month to help desensitize me to tree, grass and weed pollen, dust and mites, and animal dander.
I live in a sensitive body with asthma and allergies and IBS and migraines and chronic neck and back pain. When I say it all at once, it sounds overwhelming, but I have lots of help in lots of ways.
When I got my allergy shot yesterday, I waited the required 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t have a reaction. But I did. Have a reaction. This is not the first time I’ve had a reaction but it’s always scary. My chest gets tight. My head hurts. I get flushed and it feels like I’m having a whole body hot flash. I have stomach pain. I feel lightheaded. In short, I feel a lot of body distress.
The doctor ordered double doses of antihistamines and I had to remain in the office for another 30 minutes to make sure I was okay. They put me in the fun room where the doctor keeps a snazzy coffee machine for himself and the staff. There were also snacks in the cabinets so people were in and out a lot. They said they were checking on me, but every time someone came in they left with a bag of pretzels or chips.
The medicine worked and I started to feel much better within about 15 minutes. From my vantage point in my assigned chair, I couldn’t help but noticing the soft window light in contrast to the very medical looking bed where I might lie down or heaven forbid, faint.