Such a beautiful day and it brings with it.....allergies.
Blah! I hate allergies! You know, I never had any until I moved to Tucson, then all heck broke loose! And to think, Arizona is supposed to be a place where allergy sufferers go to get relief. Yeah, right! I found out that I'm allergic to all kinds of wonderful stuff now and its all due to the dust and dry air of Arizona.
When I first got here, I was OK with it. I mean, I grew up in the desert of Nevada...north of Reno to be exact. There's more dirt and sagebrush out there than I can even fathom. So, I figured that when my first marriage broke up and I went home to mommy and daddy in Arizona that it was a pretty good place to make a fresh start. I was miserable. Not only was I broken hearted and broken, but I had a two year old Downs child to deal with. It took me a bit to decide to quit mourning what used to be and to look forward to what will be. With the grace of God and a lot of help from my folks, I got back on my feet, got a job and started doing sneezing here and there. Not much mind you, to get me to realize what was happening, just the occasional sniffle here and the dry nose there....here a sneeze; there a sneeze; everywhere a sneeze, sneeze. When I remarried, I went back to cold country, Denver, Colorado and my folks "retired" to Scappoose, Oregon.
So after they decided that the Pacific Northwest was too cold for them, they moved back down to Arizona, which is where I am currently, helping out. My mom had some back surgery and I am here helping her until she is back on her feet. Its the least I could do for all they've done for me in the past, and the allergies have not left me alone since I stepped off of the plane. I've had blocked ears, dry sinuses that even saline won't touch and sneezing? Yeah, at least three to four times a day, sometimes more.
Last night, after mom got home from the hospital, and everyone was settled in for the night, I headed to bed myself. I wasn't really tired, but my back and shoulder were hurting (thank you, fibro...sheesh!), so I figured that a good night sleep might help. Not that I've had many of those here...its just not home, you know, so the bed ended up having its sheets readjusted every morning due to the fact that I've been tossing and turning all night, every night. Last night was an interesting one. I am guessing that the stress of the last few days had finally taken its toll on me and I started itching like a dog possessed with a flea circus. Only on the backs of my legs, though. Then my ear felt like it was draining on my pillow and started to itch. I grabbed a Q-Tip and swabbed out my ear and it was as dry as a bone. Then my head started to hurt and the wonderful tell-tale sign that I was having a major allergy attack, my lips started to tingle and hurt. Then my whole right side of my face. Peachy. Grabbed the Zyrtec and took one, went in and splashed cool water on my face and assessed the damage. I could only tell you that I could have auditioned for H.R. Puffenstuff and won the role. My lips looked like they had been injected with enough collagen to make Lisa Rinna look like she had pencil thin lips. The area around my right ear was swollen. Great. Just what I need. I went back to my room, laid down and out loud said, "I am not doing this tonight". Then the feeling of a panic attack started in my chest. Again, out loud, "I said, I am not doing this tonight! What part of I am not doing this did you not understand"? Prayed out loud to Jesus to help out with the situation, opened up Angry Birds and played until not only the panic attack left, but my face went down in size as well. Just for reference, I don't like Arizona....did I mention that before?
Today, armed with peppermint oil on a cotton ball and the Zyrtec already taken, I have to say that I feel much better. My back and neck still hurt from the fibro, but I can deal with that. Having to go to the emergency room for a shot I can't deal with, especially since the nearest one is I think close to an hour away, and mom needs me up and mobile, not down and not cognizant of my surroundings thanks to some stupid steroid shot and an allergy shot. Praise God that He led me through that situation last night. Hopefully, I won't be having to deal with it again while I'm here, my Dad just doesn't need another person to worry about.
I doesn't look as if she is going to have a swift recovery, for her sake, I wish it were, but in the meantime, I will be here and help out and try with everything I have to keep the allergies at bay. Perhaps I should take stock in Zyrtec and peppermint oil.
When I first got here, I was OK with it. I mean, I grew up in the desert of Nevada...north of Reno to be exact. There's more dirt and sagebrush out there than I can even fathom. So, I figured that when my first marriage broke up and I went home to mommy and daddy in Arizona that it was a pretty good place to make a fresh start. I was miserable. Not only was I broken hearted and broken, but I had a two year old Downs child to deal with. It took me a bit to decide to quit mourning what used to be and to look forward to what will be. With the grace of God and a lot of help from my folks, I got back on my feet, got a job and started doing sneezing here and there. Not much mind you, to get me to realize what was happening, just the occasional sniffle here and the dry nose there....here a sneeze; there a sneeze; everywhere a sneeze, sneeze. When I remarried, I went back to cold country, Denver, Colorado and my folks "retired" to Scappoose, Oregon.
So after they decided that the Pacific Northwest was too cold for them, they moved back down to Arizona, which is where I am currently, helping out. My mom had some back surgery and I am here helping her until she is back on her feet. Its the least I could do for all they've done for me in the past, and the allergies have not left me alone since I stepped off of the plane. I've had blocked ears, dry sinuses that even saline won't touch and sneezing? Yeah, at least three to four times a day, sometimes more.
Last night, after mom got home from the hospital, and everyone was settled in for the night, I headed to bed myself. I wasn't really tired, but my back and shoulder were hurting (thank you, fibro...sheesh!), so I figured that a good night sleep might help. Not that I've had many of those here...its just not home, you know, so the bed ended up having its sheets readjusted every morning due to the fact that I've been tossing and turning all night, every night. Last night was an interesting one. I am guessing that the stress of the last few days had finally taken its toll on me and I started itching like a dog possessed with a flea circus. Only on the backs of my legs, though. Then my ear felt like it was draining on my pillow and started to itch. I grabbed a Q-Tip and swabbed out my ear and it was as dry as a bone. Then my head started to hurt and the wonderful tell-tale sign that I was having a major allergy attack, my lips started to tingle and hurt. Then my whole right side of my face. Peachy. Grabbed the Zyrtec and took one, went in and splashed cool water on my face and assessed the damage. I could only tell you that I could have auditioned for H.R. Puffenstuff and won the role. My lips looked like they had been injected with enough collagen to make Lisa Rinna look like she had pencil thin lips. The area around my right ear was swollen. Great. Just what I need. I went back to my room, laid down and out loud said, "I am not doing this tonight". Then the feeling of a panic attack started in my chest. Again, out loud, "I said, I am not doing this tonight! What part of I am not doing this did you not understand"? Prayed out loud to Jesus to help out with the situation, opened up Angry Birds and played until not only the panic attack left, but my face went down in size as well. Just for reference, I don't like Arizona....did I mention that before?
Today, armed with peppermint oil on a cotton ball and the Zyrtec already taken, I have to say that I feel much better. My back and neck still hurt from the fibro, but I can deal with that. Having to go to the emergency room for a shot I can't deal with, especially since the nearest one is I think close to an hour away, and mom needs me up and mobile, not down and not cognizant of my surroundings thanks to some stupid steroid shot and an allergy shot. Praise God that He led me through that situation last night. Hopefully, I won't be having to deal with it again while I'm here, my Dad just doesn't need another person to worry about.
I doesn't look as if she is going to have a swift recovery, for her sake, I wish it were, but in the meantime, I will be here and help out and try with everything I have to keep the allergies at bay. Perhaps I should take stock in Zyrtec and peppermint oil.
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