Today was Day 12 of the 2017 Fall pollen season. I woke up shortly before my alarm went off because I was in pain. Pollen overload can cause me to have severe eye pain that is so bad it wakes me out of a sound sleep.
Days that begin with me feeling around for the medication I take to reduce the pain are horrible. The pain eventually subsides, but I’m never quite “right” after that. Pain is draining.
The pollen count today was 8.9 – which is noticeably higher than the previous days of 8.7. The most obvious difference was that days where the pollen count is 8.7 or lower do not make me wake up with eye pain.
Usually, I would give up and stay home when the pollen is this high. That wasn’t possible today because Shawn and I really needed to get groceries. The artwork at the top of this blog is from the City Hall, where Shawn and I went to get change for the bus.
We’ve been car-less for just a short time, and already, it is abundantly clear that the buses make it much easier for me to get around than driving did. For example, I could have taken additional allergy medication while riding the bus if I needed it. That would not be a good idea if I were trying to drive.
I love that I can get on the bus with Shawn and be unfocused (due to overloaded allergens, the medication I need when than happens, or good old “fibro fog”) and let the bus driver worry about getting us to where we need to go. I can take better care of myself when I don’t have to withhold necessary medication because I had to drive somewhere. The buses make my life easier and safer.
Taking the Bus is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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