What’s worse than struggling with chronic illneses? The answer to that question would be suffering through fall pollen season, while California is on fire, during a pandemic.
In this blog, I have a collection of things I posted on social media while exhausted, sick, and on various drugs that somewhat alleviate my chronic illnesses.
Continue Reading “Chronic Illness Moments”
Many changes have been made as a response to dealing with COVID-19. Most of them involve things people can do to avoid catching – and spreading – the virus. My state has ordered (almost) everyone to “shelter at home”.
The result has caused changes that I would not have guessed would become “the new normal” in 2020.
Continue Reading “Shelter At Home”
My husband and I are going to become car-less in a few months. My car barely passed the smog test last time around (and basically needed intensive care to get it through). There’s no chance it will pass this year, and it needs a ton of stuff fixed.
The car isn’t unsafe, exactly. But, the car was made in 1994, and although we’ve had plenty of repair work done over the years, it’s pretty much ready to give up the ghost. It’s been on a salvage title for years, ever since some idiot backed into my car at a gas station. But, that’s a story for another time.
What about my husband’s car? He doesn’t have one. He’s legally blind.
I’ve never really been “healthy”, so maybe I didn’t have as big a change to deal with as those who have several years of wonderful health before something bad happens.
But, I remember the exact moment I knew that something was severely wrong with me (beyond my allergies and borderline anemia). My husband and I were walking from the train station to the hotel we would be staying at while attending a video game conference.
My husband and I went to an 80s themed party that was for a relative’s 50th birthday. Fifty is a milestone birthday, and milestone birthdays often are celebrated with a much-bigger-than-usual party.
When a healthy person goes to a party, it kind of goes like this: Get ready. Go to party. Eat/drink whatever is there that looks good, have fun hanging out in a crowd of people, go home. If the person doesn’t drink too much alcohol, then the healthy person is probably just fine the day after the party.
This isn’t how things work for me, a person with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and severe allergies. Going to a party takes a ton of planning ahead of time, extra-careful management of my health, and at least one or two days of recovery afterwards.
Today, the pollen count is 7.5. It’s not great. Ideally, I need the pollen count to be 6 or less for about two weeks – and then I can recover.
Continue Reading “Spring Pollen Season – Day Seventy”
Today is Easter Sunday. I don’t celebrate it, but I am aware that others do.
Continue Reading “Spring Pollen Season – Day Sixty-One”
Today’s pollen count is 9.5, which is a little better than yesterday’s 9.7 (but doesn’t actually feel any different to me).
Continue Reading “Spring Pollen Season – Day Fifty-Nine”
Today, the pollen count is 10.4.
I managed to go outside to drive to Denny’s to pick up food and bring home and eat. There is something about being on a lot of Benadryl for several days in a row that makes Denny’s sound really good.
Continue Reading “Spring Pollen Season – Day Forty-Five”
This screenshot of today’s pollen count looks different from the ones I have included in previous Spring Pollen Season 2017 posts.
The reason is simple – I had a rheumatology appointment today, which meant I had to go outside on a day when the pollen count was 9.9. Obviously, this resulted in a long, long, nap when I got back home. I wasn’t able to take a screenshot until after Pollen.com moved on to the next day. Oops.
I haven’t felt right all day, physically, because I’m overloaded with pollen and inflammation due to my allergic reaction to pollen.
