Tonight was the Warren Township HS Bands camp finale, where we got to see what they’ve learned in 40 hours of training this last week. The band director said this was the best camp in the last 10 years! Owen is playing tenor sax (there’s no bari in competition band).
I’ll also be trying to put in some of the major updates that I’ve missed over the last few years…just so I have a searchable record for my swiss cheese perimenopause brain!
Today was my last check in for the patch testing…and there was absolutely nothing. So not sure where we’re going from here, other than the allergy shots…
I was legit not allergic to a single thing they tested for. Which sounds great — yay, no allergies! — but it also means I have no answers. I technically still need to wait two more days (and come back again) in case there are any latent reactions…but I’m not holding out hope. And again, no showering.
Testing a whopping 43 different things like chemicals, metals, preservatives, medications, etc. I’m really hoping this gives me some answers.
I get to leave these for two days, at which point I come back so they can remove them and see if I have any reactions. So no showering because I can’t get them wet.
She went in for a possible UTI (it was negative) but while we were there discussed her frequent nose bleeds and the doc said we might as well get her tested for blood clotting disorders as the first step… She did great! That test was negative, too.
So this coyote was just in our back yard…playing with and pulling the stuffing out of a stuffed dog toy that our girls left out there. I wish I had gotten a picture of that — but by the time Katie saw it and told me, it had already jumped the fence (this pic is our neighbor’s yard)!
I have definitely seen coyotes around, but they’ve all been small. Tom said this one was HUUUUGE!! Now we really have to be on the lookout when the dogs go out.
Here we go! I’m hopefully going to get some answers to why my eyes (and face) have been red, dry, and puffy.
I confirmed that environmental intradermal testing is first. Then a patch test (for chemicals, etc., at another date), and then it’s a discussion with the doctor of we want/need to try foods.
Everything they’re testing today!That was painless! And it took like 30 seconds to do the whole thing! So cool! Now we wait.No super terrible reactions… But actual shots are coming with the things I was slightly allergic to.
The first tests were just a simple pinprick. The follow up are actual under the skin shots. I need 19 of the 21 available.
By the time she was done with all 19 individual shots, this is what it looked like…and then 30 minutes later.
The shots are going to be freaking annoying since I have to do them there. Either once a week for 9 months or once a week for 9 weeks (sped up process in which I get two shots pet visit with a wait in-between). I have to call insurance to see what’s covered.
5 Cottonwood tree 6 Oak tree 10 sagebrush/mugwort weed 12 Alternaria mold worst 13 Aspergillus mold 14 Helminthosporium mold 16 DP Mite worst 18 Feather 19 Cockroach 20 UF dog 21 AP cat
So, I wasn’t super allergic to anything…which is technically good, but rather disappointing because that means it wasn’t an easy answer to what’s been going on.
You might not think this picture looks really bad, but it is in person.
Look at how red and puffy my eye area is?! And you can’t really tell in this pic but my eyelids are so dry and scaly it’s awful—I stopped using any of my skincare on it because nothing was helping so I thought maybe I’d become allergic to something and I was making it worse. But that didn’t help. Some mornings I wake up in my eyes are so puffy it kind of blocks my vision!
I’m so glad I have my allergist appointment tomorrow to hopefully get some answers.
Tom took the kids to the airport this morning for their spring break flight to Florida! This was their first trip flying alone, though they had a flight attendant babysitter (for an additional fee, of course).
They had a few snafus (Owen forgot his meds so they had to turn around and then it took forever to get to the gate due to the clueless United employee helping them) but they made it.
Their plane coming in (Lin could meet them at the gate).I was following them on Find My Friends.
It was really disconcerting to step into a tank of water that was only about 8″ deep knowing you’d be floating in it. It was a little slippery.
You could either be in total darkness or have pinpoint stars (my choice) as well as silence or relaxing music (my choice).
And you really did float! Nothing ever touched the bottom of the tank! It took awhile to actually relax and figure out where my arms felt best—I had them above my head but that ended up feeling weird so I put them at my sides and they floated out away from me.
It was also weird having earplugs in—because it makes everything louder in your head and you hear your breathing and realize you’re breathing faster than you need to. I wasn’t nervous, but it was a weird sensation to get used to. I tried to take consistent breaths and just let my mind wander. I was warned it was possible to fall asleep and I didn’t think it would happen…but I must have dozed off a few times because I woke up a few times. Again, weird.
Before I knew it the announcement was playing telling me my time was up. I got out and showered again. I did feel calm and relaxed. I’m not sure I got any definite health benefits out of it, but I think I’d like to do it again—now that I really know what to expect, I might relax sooner and get more out of it.