Monday, July 13, 2009

Ah-Choo


I had some allergy testing done last week. You know, when they draw the big grid on your back and poke you with all kinds of allergens. Interesting results. Here are some things that you might not know about me (because I didn't know them about myself):


I'm allergic to various molds and tree pollens. I'm HIGHLY allergic to marsh elder. If anyone knows what that is, kindly show it to me because I don't think I should get around that. . .ever!


I'm allergic to tomatoes. . .as is my brother and my dad. I'm not sure if that means I can't have ketchup or tomato sauce.


I'm allergic to feathers, dogs and guinea pigs. Now, I wasn't allergic to dogs growing up because I had the best dog ever from the time that I was 4 years old until my senior year in high school. I never had any allergy problems. And guinea pigs? I owned not one, not two, but NINE guinea pigs at one time. After Penelope's death, I am now down to only one guinea pig, my only pet, Harrison. I am a huge animal lover and between Ryan and I, I don't think there is an animal that one of us isn't allergic to. He's allergic to dogs and cats, so I went with guinea pigs. Now, I find that I'm allergic to dogs and guinea pigs. I'm kinda bummed about the whole thing. I had thought of getting Olivia a little bird because she loves tweet tweets, but I'm allergic to feathers. Yikes! Maybe we can get a pet cow. . .I don't think either of us are allergic to cows.

The other results are kind of boring, although it was interesting to find out that I'm allergic to red maples and guess which two trees are in our backyard? Yep. . .red maples. Oh, and don't send me any chrysanthemums. . .I'm allergic to those too. I started on an allergy med and nasal spray in hopes that I don't have to do the allergy shots. You know, I never had any allergy problems until I hit my 20s. Actually, when I moved out into my first apartment is when my allergies started. . .it must have been near a field of marsh elder. I guess that's also when I got my first guinea pig. . .oops.

5 comments:

Debby@Just Breathe said...

You can become conditioned to your pets. I have severe asthma and I do okay with terriers. They shed like humans so they are considered non shedding. I wish you success in controlling this and pray that it never gets worse. I even had a bird and it didn't effect me.

Amy said...

I too am allergic to darn near everything under the sun. When I had that testing done about 10 years ago the Dr looked at me and said, let me tell you what you are not allergic to because that list is tiny compared to what you are allergic to. I too have bad asthma and allergies and I take oral meds, nasal meds and shots and I still have my 2 cats and my 2 dogs. They are my family and well with all of the above I can handle it, but I did however, have to kick the cats out of bed at night since they insist on sleeping on my head....that does cause problems. Good luck with the allergies, I know its miserable and don't think you can't have your beloved animals because there are ways to get around it. Love and God Bless!

Cristi said...

Man I wish you could transplant the red maples to my yard

Cristi said...

Oh, and sorry about your allergies! Maybe now that you know it will be helpful and you will feel better.

Candice said...

Wow, what an ordeal to work around. I never had allergies either until I moved away to college and now I have seasonal allergies that range in severity from year to year. Cody is highly allergic to cats too, though our dog doesn't seem to bother him. He is out of sorts whenever we go to the lake unless he has takes his allergy meds proactively. I guess it could be worse, but it's all very strange how it works.