Allergies, etcetera

Yesterday I went to the allergist.
Friends, allergy testing is not fun.

This isn't me (I was much redder)
Image from NY Times

I got 59 needles in my back, and they do not mess around when they're putting those things in. It felt like the nurse, who was otherwise sweet as can be, was throwing the needles into my back and then ripping them out. I have three tattoos, so I was expecting to handle this like a champ, but it hurt! Not only that, but after about 3 minutes my entire back felt like it was on fire, because... I'm allergic to everything.

Okay, not everything, but it felt like it. I am allergic to a lot. All 14 different types of grass & weeds came back positive, plus two types of mold, two types of tree pollen, dogs, cats, and dust mites. AND on top of all of that they decided to test me for asthma - and guess what? I have it. Badly enough to need a daily inhaler, apparently. I also have to breathe into this weird apparatus and log my "peak" breath numbers every day, so that we can gauge my "normal" in order to know when I'm having an asthma attack.

I'm interested to see what Limu will be able to do for me long term with these issues. Allergies are largely caused by inflammation; Limu has incredible anti-inflammatory properties and I've seen countless studies and stories of Fucoidan's effect on allergies. I have more research to do on its effect on asthma - I didn't know it was something I needed to think about until yesterday - but I've only been taking Limu for a few weeks, so I'm excited for the long-term results!

Anyway, I was at the doctor's office for nearly four hours yesterday, and left with a brand new and unexpected diagnosis, a lot of equipment for that diagnosis, and therefore, the need to buy a purse. I hate carrying a purse, which in all honesty is the part of this that I'm most annoyed with. I have to carry this Peak Flow Meter, my inhaler, and my spacer, so I have to get something I can get all that into. My last purse was this little number in yellow, which was just big enough to fit a couple of cards, a little cash, my phone, and a chapstick. And I stopped carrying that and just started stuffing things into my pockets ages ago. I loathe carrying a purse. So now not only do I have the twenty-minute allergy & asthma routine to go through every morning, I've got to carry an Asthma 'R' Us tote bag around every day on the off chance I start to wheeze. I'm psyching myself up to go to Kohl's this afternoon and buy one. Is anyone else as repelled by the idea of carrying a purse as I am?

In other news, I wasn't thrilled with that camera I bought. It's on its way back to the Amazon warehouse. The zoom was nice and it felt good in hand, but the picture quality just wasn't what I was hoping for. Somehow my eyes jumped over the megapixel specs when I was researching and the zoom swept me away.
So I'm trying again. Still sticking with Canon, but I've decided to bump up to a DSLR. And this time, I paid for overnight shipping! We're going out to look at houses again this weekend and I'm hoping this camera will be helpful in remembering which house looked like what - I have a terrible spatial memory. When we go out to look at houses, we usually stop by a cafe to have coffee after and talk over the houses we saw, and I never remember them correctly - even just an hour later! And I always get confused on my iPhone with what order the houses were in, etc., so I'm hoping this will be better for me.

Friends, I am getting seriously pumped for us having a house. The more I think about it, the more I feel like the right one is just around the corner. We're about to find it, I know we are. The offer on the town home falling through just made me more excited - that wasn't the one, so now we've got one less house to see and think about before we find ours. It's coming - I know it!

And now, my friends, it's time. Time for me to go and buy... a purse. Wish me luck?

Happy Wednesday!