Christmas is difficult for me because I am allergic to pine trees, fir trees, poinsettias, and all the scented products that are everywhere.
I wrote a short series of haiku on Twitter that show what happens to me as I try and recover from Christmas allergens.
Continue Reading “Christmas Recovery Haiku”
My first attempt at getting Disability benefits was denied. I appealed that decision – and got denied again. The last part of the process involves seeing a Disability Judge (who hopefully is in a good mood that day.).
My Disability hearing was scheduled a few days before Thanksgiving. I was very anxious that the judge would deny my claim simply because she had to work during Thanksgiving week. Writing haiku helps me cope with stress.
This year, I decided to document my struggle through the fall pollen season in the form of haiku. If you’re going to complain about your health – you might as well do it in a creative way.
I also wanted to share how bad my allergies were due to the fall pollen season and give people a glimpse into what it is like to be me. This year’s fall pollen season started August 9, 2016, and it continued through September 30, 2016. That’s a total of 53 days of being sick, in a row, with no end in sight.
In 2015, I suffered through the worst pollen seasons I’ve ever experienced. The spring pollen season went away – and the fall pollen season started not long after that.
I knew I would be going through the same allergen induced agony again this year. I believed it would be easier since I had lived through it before and kind of knew what to do to alleviate the worst symptoms. You can probably tell from the “selfie” at the end of this blog that I was in a ton of pain by the end of August.
The haiku in this blog were written right around the 4th of July. Some people where I live like to shoot off fireworks all month long. The smoke was not good for me.
This month involved working on things that could potentially improve my health. Things are moving slowly, but hopefully headed in the right direction.
Rheumatologist
Checking up on me today
Confused him last time
June 2, 2016
Had blood test today
Am borderline anemic
So spacey right now!
June 2, 2016
The phrase “pushing the envelope” is an idiom that can be explained as “to approach or extend the limits of what is possible”. May turned out to be all about that, quite unintentionally.
I was pushed out of my comfort zone in many different ways. I wrote very few haiku in May. I guess this is what happens when your physical body needs extra energy to cope with allergens, irritants, and chronic illnesses. Something had to give, and it turned out to be the poetry.
Sitting here in the wee hours of the morning
“Why didn’t I get anything done today?”
And then … I remember….
I tend to complain on Twitter in the form of haiku, and unintentionally ended up with a mix of poems about a small moment of joy or a lingering moment of pain.
If I didn’t have allergies, I wouldn’t be so sick all the time.
If I wasn’t sick all the time, I wouldn’t have to sleep half my day away.
If I didn’t have to sleep half my day away, I could get more work done.
