Fireweed: My Only Friend

It is time to end my blogging hiatus. I don't even really know why I took one. I've certainly had plenty of things on my mind and plenty of adventures to document. I guess I'll play the catchup game for the few people who might be interested in my little ol' life.

I was tortured in February. I had my camera phone with me and tried my best to document the experience. The angles on the pictures are kind of funny, but if you see what is on my arms, you will understand! After getting yet another sinus infection, my doctor recommended that I undergo allergy testing. I had it done over 10 years prior so I was familiar with the torture methods. My doctor suspected (rightly so) that I had developed new allergies.

I was instructed to wear a short-sleeved shirt to the appointment. I had to fill out extensive paperwork asking about the environment where I lived and worked. After introducing herself, McKenzie proceeded to wipe my forearms with alcohol wipes and pull out the torture devices. She started with a Sharpie in a lovely shade of purple and proceeded to mark her territory so to speak. Then she pulled out The Needles.

This an actual photo of McKenzie demonstrating the use of The Needles on that poor, unsuspecting little boy. At the end of each one of those plastic things is a needle that has been soaking in some sort of allergen. Kids get it on the back. Adults on the forearm. I guess they figure if you are an grownup, you can take the site of The Needles coming at you.

This is my forearm dripping with potential allergens and the Sharpie tattoos. There is a small scratch from The Needles under each of those drops next to each tattoo.

After using The Needles on my forearm and waiting the appropriate amount of time to see how big of a reaction my immune system would make to each of the potential allergens, it was determined that a more sensitive (read: more horrible) test was required to determine my particular allergens.

McKenzie decided that my upper arms shouldn't miss out on all the fun so we rolled up my short sleeved shirt and she proceeded with the tattoos again. This time, next to each tattoo, she used an individual needle to inject a small amount of potential allergen underneath my skin. So instead of one big scratch all at once from The Needles on my forearms, I got shots. Lots and lots of shots in my upper arm.

Yes, each of those was a shot. And the red splotches around some of them were very itchy!

The results showed that I am allergic to pretty much every weed they tested for (except Fireweed, whatever that is), every grass, most tree pollens, and most molds. I'm also allergic to dogs and cats for good measure. The most amazing reaction I had was to Penicillium which is the mold that grows on bread and other food. The lovely green hairy stuff apparently makes me really sick. No more refrigerator science experiments for me.

I'll probably bite the bullet and do immunotherapy next year. It's pretty expensive, but the possibility of a "cure" sounds pretty enticing. Meanwhile, Zyrtec, nasal washes, Nasonex, and Fireweed are my only friends.