Today was Day 34 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. I am no longer certain if the severe sinus pain I am feeling is a sinus infection or simply the result of 34 days in a row with pollen counts that are higher than my body can tolerate.
I spent some time on the phone today, on hold, in an attempt to get the vision insurance company to send me a vision insurance card. The photo above, of a hand that is holding an iPhone, felt like a good visual metaphor for being on hold. “Hold the phone.”
Today was Day 27 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. Yesterday, my acupuncturist recommended I start using a “dietary supplement” that is new to me. It is called Curaphen, and I started taking it today. So far, so good.
Today is Day 17 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. The pollen count has passed ten. Tens are painful. My way of coping with this horribly high pollen count was to get a bunch of paid work done after the sun went down, and then go to sleep with the window AC on.
Today is Day 16 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. We are having a heat wave. How hot was it? So hot that our cockatiels – which are tropical birds – needed a fan. Today was at least as humid today as it was yesterday, and the pollen count is higher than yesterday. I am miserable.
It is bad enough to be struggling through a pollen count of 9.7. I didn’t need the extra pain from the heat and humidity. One more day of swollen joints in my hands and feet.
It is too hot today for me to think clearly. My sinuses are on fire, and I’m going to have to take more allergy medication soon. And then, I will have even less ability to think clearly or do anything productive.
Today is Day 15 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. Things started off okay, and went downhill rather quickly in the afternoon. I blame the heat and humidity as well as the pollen count (which was 9.3 today).
There was a point during the day when I thought I was about to pass out from the heat. Humidity causes my joints to swell up, and I’ve been in pain all day long. My eyes are not itching today, so I guess that makes today less awful than yesterday was.
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, my husband and I went to Target. Technically, it’s one of those Target “superstores” that have all the usual Target stuff and a grocery section. I got a gift card as an early birthday gift from a relative – and we needed some stuff.
The plan was to buy a rug to put underneath the kitchen trash can and recycle bin, some socks to replace the ones I have worn out, and an 80′s looking headband (which I will wear at an 80s themed birthday party for a relative that is coming up soon).
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.
