Allergic Reaction: Yes or No?

Anyone who's wandered into the unicorn patch of health issues knows diagnoses are rather murky things sometimes.

Now that I finally have an antibiotic I tolerate well and treats TWO of my conditions, said antibiotic may have bitten back.

The problem is that the symptoms resemble an extreme reaction of autoimmune hives, which are with me always. Yes, my body is allergic to itself, too.

The symptoms started forty-eight hours after I started the drug and resolved sevety-two hours after I finished it.

Of course, I finished it.

I checked in with my doctor's physician assistant forty-eight hours after I finished the drug, and she who wasn't sure if I were reacting to the drug either.

She said I'm already taking everything they would have given me anyway. But she prescribed a much stronger, very sedating antihistamine to add onto my other three plus anithistamines if I needed more symptoms relief. 

I wound up not needing it. But I have it on hand if I do.

She did not feel I needed drug allergy testing at this point, which can be another conversation for another time.

So for now I'm left with an unclear answer and no direction for the next time I need it for the second condition (I'm allergic to the other oral options).

But I will let the experts figure it out.

I guess the lesson here is that life is not always clear and clearcut.

That's why we have critical thinking.

That's why we have others to help us.

That's why we have faith.

So what came out the door - "The Lady or the Tiger?"

Happy Tuesday!

Birthday Cake for Breakfast

I share a July 15 birthday with my granddaughter Riley.

She turned eight this year, and I turned sixty-three.

We celebrated on July 13 with a family cookout at a park and then we went swimming.

The candles didn't stay lit on our cakes, so we never blew them out (but we did sing "Happy Birthday").

We went swimming afterwards, but that was cut short with a storm (accompanied by thunder and lightning).

I had spent fourteen hours overnight in the ER earlier that week and did a second act after the party ended.

July 15 followed two all-nighters for me (both due to pain) and a celebration trip to Fox Valley Mall for Rebekah, Riley, and me. The day was bracketed by stressful doctors appointments on either end. The finale was quite the storm that night (and plenty storm coverage by The Herald-News editorial team the next day).

So we never cut into my cake until mid-week, due to circumstances and the fact the four of us who live together wanted to enjoy that cake together. So we did that one day, early in the morning, before everyone dashed off to work.

So what's the moral of the story here?

As I've previously mentioned, we've had a challenging few years of many emergencies and deaths. June and July have been especially intense, with a near constant feeling of hanging off a precipice.

More is in store for us, but we did get a much welcomed breather this weekend. So thankful!

So the point of this post is not to whine, but to maybe offer some hope for dark times.

"This too shall pass" is really true (I am currently not in pain).

Don't get hung up when plans don't work out according to our plans. Make other plans. Yes, really.

Storms will come, but the sun will come out again. (It's raining today, but the sun shone this past weekend).

Circumstances will sometimes rule the day. But every once in a while, rule the circumstances, just to show circumstances who's really boss.

There's nothing wrong with having cake for breakfast.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

My feature stories for The Herald-News are typically show the positive or poignant side of humanity.

My fiction stories tend to focus on the fallen.

Both are used to highlight what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. (a loose paraphrase of Philippians 4:8)

Light is sometimes most appreciated after sitting in the dark.

Illustration by Christopher Gleason for "Staked!" Follow him at www.artworkbytopher.com.