The Perils of Pollen

My allergies in South Carolina are a MILLION times worse than they ever were in Ohio. I never had allergies before I moved to Ohio and people would always tell me that once you live there for a year, you are bound to develop them because it's a valley region. Whatever that means. When I started sniffling during different seasons I chose to believe "them", I mean who am I to challenge the people that live there and are in the know?

When I moved back to South Carolina all allergy hell broke loose. For the past year I have gone through several bottles of Visine and have tried every over the counter medication to no avail. I can never remember what I blog about so I'm not sure if I wrote about my allergy testing recently in which I tested positive for every category and multiple sub-categories. Robin recently told me that Charleston is one of the top three cities IN THE WORLD for allergies and pollen. People in Ohio can suck it with their little allergy problems.

I was finally given Singulair and am now on two nasal sprays on top of my (which seems like hundreds of) other medications. Can you believe I actually have to get a BIGGER pill case because all of my pills won't fit into it??

Today is probably the worst allergy day I have had in Pam history. I am really suffering. My head feels like it's about to explode or fall off. Being that there is a huge gash in my throat it just might do that if it gets any worse. My nose won't stop running and I have a headache from hell. I don't think there is enough medication in the world to combat Charleston pollen. My Jeep is continually green from all the pollen.

At least I have somewhat avoided the worst couple of weeks for pollen. Most of the time I have had off since surgery have been spent on the couch or in bed. The first time I left the house for an official social situation was on Wednesday evening. My friend Carol posted a link on her Facebook page for a local photography group and asked if anyone wanted to go. I checked out the link and saw that there were some amateurs in the group so that made me feel a bit better. I also saw that Joan, my favorite blogger, was going to be speaking about photography blogging. It sounded like fun, so I told Carol I would go. Besides, it was at North Towne and I LOVE Greek food! I was able to make it through the meeting and even delivered some food to Robin that night at the hospital but by the time I got home I was exhausted!

Today I was scheduled for another post-surgical follow up with Dr. McNellis and when I woke up I could barely move. I felt so awful that I kept re-setting the alarm. At one point I got out of bed, turned on the shower and stood there for a moment until I decided that I needed to lay down again more than I needed a shower. I finally got out of bed with just enough time to get dressed, brush my teeth, wash my face and head out for my appointment.

My wait to be seen at Charleston ENT (as always) was an hour an a half. You know, that REALLY pisses me off. How is it that the wait (especially just after lunch) is that long? As I sat in the chair I could feel my body getting clammy and my face getting hot. I was becoming more and more nauseated as I waited. When I left the house I grabbed a Diet Coke and some plain graham crackers but apparently that wasn't enough to keep me from getting sick. When Dr. McNellis finally came in the room I was standing at the sink drinking water and trying not to vomit.

Dr. McNellis told me that my calcium is still a bit low and he wants me to add another dose during the day and he also informed me that the cancer was in both my left and right thyroid but not in my lymph nodes. That's good news! I told him that I have suffered with an INSANE amount of mucus in the last couple of days to the point of vomiting (sorry!) and he gave me a huge box of Mucinex samples. Thank God! Maybe I can sleep now instead of staying up all night - like last night - coughing! During my coughing bout last night I did manage to catch this awesome photo of my girl and our gimpy little dog! Soooo sweet!

After my appointment I couldn't get out of Dr. McNellis's office fast enough. I drove quickly to the closest fast food restaurant and got a grilled chicken sandwich and a fruit cup. It didn't make me feel great, but I stopped shaking and felt somewhat normal again. I went home and went straight to bed and waited for Robin to get home - she was working day shift today.

When Robin came home she brought me a goody bag from Publix! I love presents!

How sweet is she??

My get well bag included a stuffed hippo, apples, Lindt chocolates, Twizzlers, face scrub stuff (I was out), Kleenex (now I can stop using all of the the toilet paper!), scar gel (to help my scar go away!) and a big ass brand new pill container. I'm not sure it really needed to be THAT big, but oh well! What I forgot to put in the picture was the Ticketmaster envelope that has our Lady Gaga tickets in it for September in Charlotte! She could have just gotten me the bag (which I really like) and I would have been perfectly happy.

I have the sweetest girlfriend EVER! Oh! And I just wanted to mention how proud I am of her for getting nominated for Nurse of the Year at East Cooper Medical Center!

Robin rocks!