allergies Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Lydster: go to the South African consulate

Happy birthday!!

Last we checked, my daughter and I were getting ready to go to the South African consulate in New York City in mid-January. She was there for about 45 minutes. Her father had to stay downstairs, as did a couple of other parents, and there were no chairs; they specifically did not want us to sit on the floor.

Everything seemed to be in place, but we still fretted a bit. That evening, we went to see Maybe Happy Ending with a niece and her Significant Other, the first Broadway show I had seen since Newsies in 2014, and also with my daughter.

Shockingly, her visa arrived in a week —yay!

Jersey

On February 5th, my wife, daughter, and I went to Newark. My wife rightly hated driving in New Jersey, and the closer we got to Newark, the worse. One particular car was in the right lane of three heading south while we were in the middle lane. The car from our right decided to be in the same space we were in, so my wife had to evade the vehicle, not even having time to see if a vehicle was in the left lane to avoid this fool.

We stopped at a hotel near the Newark airport and took a shuttle to the airport a couple of hours later. The shuttle driver’s driving made my wife nervous. “Jersey drivers” is an earned epitaph.

We arrived at the airport and went through all the processing more quickly than I anticipated. My daughter sat waiting for two hours before boarding, a bit annoyed that we got there so early.

Our daughter had a 14-hour direct flight from Newark to Cape Town, South Africa, and got a ride to her college. Before beginning classes, she experienced many cool and fun orientation stuff, including sightseeing. She seems to be enjoying herself.

School days

Classes began on February 17th, and she’s enjoying dance, history, and art. One of the things she mentioned about her art class was that most of her classmates have been attending classes together for the past two years. She’s the only American there, and they’re asking her questions—”Why does your country do THAT?”—but they’re otherwise pretty chill about it.

She has had a couple of allergy scares, one while eating pizza and the other a pasta dish. Food labeling is not as robust as it is in the United States. And she’s had some difficulty with her credit and debit cards, even though we called her banks before she left the country.

Last year, my wife and I went to her college in Massachusetts and spent time with her both before and after her birthday, although not on her birthday. This year, she’s 7,845 miles or 12,625 kilometers. We knew this was going to be the case. It’s a good thing she’s doing what she wants to: exploring the world.

Yet I feel a soupçon of melancholy that she’s so far away. Happy birthday, my dear daughter. Enjoy your special day.

One of those things, again

mostly about money

If you have ever had something go wrong, you might have put a neutral spin on it and said to yourself, “Well, it’s one of those things.” I’ve been saying it a few times recently.

ITEM: I have been feeling off with a head cold for much of the month. Since I’m not “sick” – no temperature, two negative COVID tests – I’ve taken various anti-allergy meds. Could I be having seasonal allergies? It WAS 60F (15.6C) on 10 February, breaking the record for the date in Albany by 7F. Absurd. I was looking forward to a big snowstorm forecast for 13 Feb, but it was a bust as the weather pattern shifted to the south.

ITEM: I was supposed to pay our city taxes by the end of January. To avoid writing a check because checks are expensive, I arranged for our credit union to send them a bank draft, which cost us nothing. But I could not find the bill, so I went to the city’s website and got an amount.

We got a letter from the city in early February with the bank draft returned. I must have picked up the amount from the PREVIOUS year’s taxes. Now we need to pay a couple hundred dollars more, about half of it being interest, by 29 February. So I must either resend the bank draft and write a check for the difference or go to City Hall with the bank draft and cash. This process was supposed to make the process easier and cheaper. I muffed it, though, and it is neither.

ITEM: Likewise, my wife missed the payment date to pay the Spring tuition for our daughter’s college tuition. This involves two-step authorization, which is too boring to detail. But it was more money out of pocket.

Less money

ITEM: At the beginning of the month, I pay specific bills just after my Social Security check hits my bank account, notably my Discover card. But this fiscal dance was getting a bit treacherous. I had less money than I counted on and had to go to our credit union to take out money to put in my checking account.

As it turns out, I had authorized payment for my MasterCard, which I seldom use, but I needed to do so after losing my wallet. On 9 January, the amount due was paid in full. Twice. I didn’t notice this until I got the next MasterCard bill, which showed a CREDIT. I don’t know how that happened, but I’m using that card for everything until the credit is gone.

ITEM: I saw that I got a letter in the mail from the Albany Police Department. Maybe they had a breakthrough in discovering who took possession of my wallet’s contents.

No such luck. I received the contents of a letter from someone surnamed Rogers, who had mailed to the Albany police chief, disputing a traffic ticket in precise detail of alleged misconduct by the APD. “I require proof that I did what you are accusing me of. You have until Friday 12/22/23 @ 5:00 pm to get it to me. If nothing is received… this ticket will be null and void.”

I note that the street number is the same as mine, but the street name, while starting with the same letter as mine, is not mine. The ZIP Code is different. I took it to my local police station.

ITEM: In good news, I’m getting a free week of the Boston Globe online due to some class action suit I probably signed onto. Even better, my payment in Ambrose v. Boston Globe Media Partners LLC, Case No. 1:22-cv-10195-RGS, was approved, and I received a payment of $158.03.

So it’s NOT allergies?

rhinitis

This spring has been terrible for my nose and throat. I assumed the cause. But it’s NOT allergies?

I would have coughing jags. One at church on May 8 was so severe that I had to leave the choir loft, lest I hack through the sermon. I seemed OK enough the following Wednesday to ride my bike a few days later to a memorial service for a choir member, then onto my Dad’s group at church. But by the time I rode home, I couldn’t get enough air. This wasn’t the not-fit-enough response, but the my-lungs-feel-awful scenario.

The next morning, I had another coughing event WHILE I was taking my blood pressure. That 168 systolic reading WAS an aberration. Later, I went to my allergist. To test whether the allergy shots I took for about five years, but hadn’t taken in for just as long, I had to stop taking Zyrtec for three days. So I was pretty miserable when I once again became a human pincushion.

It’s all in my nose

But surprise! I have rhinitis, which “is moderate to severe and not well controlled.” But I have “no evidence of remaining sensitivity to tree or grass pollens based upon negative skin tests to these allergens.” I AM still allergic to ragweed, but that’s a late summer thing. “A second course of immunotherapy is not recommended.” So I’m still using nasal sprays in the morning and evening.

Then am I ill? I went to the local urgent care place as a walk-in the following Saturday. The hour-long wait turned out to be 210 minutes. Did I want a COVID test? Sure, why not? And just as the rapid tests have shown, I still don’t have it.

It’s a strange thing having symptoms that COULD be COVID. Almost any bodily reaction COULD be COVID. And with the recent spread into the Mid-Atlantic and upper Midwest, I suppose I need to continue mask indoors. So far, so good.

Monkeypox

Oh, and it’s not monkeypox, people. Some people I know IRL are fretting, “First COVID, now this.” Not yet. Another person I know IRL believes that it’s a WHO plot to inject us again.

Maladies Melodies Allergies

my second COVID booster

There’s a Paul Simon song that starts Maladies Melodies Allergies. I so relate.

My allergies to pollen and the like have been quite severe this season, the worst in years. They were so awful that every time my head hit the pillow at night, within five minutes, I would start to cough uncontrollably. Even trying to sleep with my head propped up wasn’t sufficient. One night I woke up four times, after about 90 minutes each time.

Finally, I started taking the generic version of Nyquil just so I could sleep for six hours in a row. It has a cough suppressant and a nasal decongestant. Likewise, my daughter suffers from seasonal allergies which affect her sleep. She actually stayed home from school a day last week, from sheer fatigue.

I decided that we should each take a home COVID test. As I expected, they were both negative. The other motivation for mine was that I was scheduled to get a second COVID booster. I understand that getting the booster while you actually have COVID is contraindicated. Incidentally, I had no bad reaction, as usual, as long as I didn’t lean my arm on the injection site.

We now have several COVID test kits, some from that time not so long ago when they were a bit difficult to come by. Now they are practically ubiquitous, which is good since I’ve used them a total of thrice in a week. The CDC guidelines in Albany County changed this past Thursday from GREEN to YELLOW, which means masking is no longer optional in church. So before Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, I took a rapid test.

Expiry

I was curious about the fact that all the tests we currently own have an expiration date of June 30. This article from Health News Hub states: “The Food and Drug Administration countered Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance by extending their expiration dates. The FDA says it’s OK to add three months to any expiration date printed on a test kit box. (The BinaxNow test kit received FDA approval for an extended shelf life after tests showed the kit components were effective for up to 15 months.)

“Beyond the extended expiration date, results are not reliable.”

Also: “Most manufacturers of at-home tests recommend storing the kits between 35 degrees and 86 degrees. The greatest threat now is delivery during the cold winter months. A test kit left for a day or more in your mailbox at frigid temperatures could freeze the liquid reagent inside a cartridge that comes with the kit, invalidating the test results.”

So, if you see me going into a coughing jag, it’s unlikely that I am spreading COVID, only hay fever. It’s because I’m going to be getting used to sticking a cotton swab up my nose for a while.

Oh, yeah, that Paul Simon song.

Am I allergic to penicillin?

Over-diagnosed and Under-addressed

My allergist’s office sent me, and I suspect, many other patients a letter this autumn. I was genuinely excited to receive it. The notice indicated as this FAQ suggests, that “the majority of patients (greater than 90%)” who believe they have an allergy to penicillin may not be. “Most people lose their penicillin allergy over time, even patients with a history of severe reaction such as anaphylaxis.”

Why did I think I was allergic? I was 16 to 18 years old, but it was definitely before I went to college. I had a cold or maybe the flu that lingered. My doctor gave me a shot of penicillin. In fairly short order, I itched like crazy, especially on my arms. For three days, calamine lotion became my best friend. It was so PINK.

On Veterans Day 2020, I received a penicillin skin test. I got poked four times on my forearm. The fourth one itched a bit; that was a marker to make sure I had not in fact taken an antihistamine such as Zyrtec in the past 72 hours, as instructed. I passed that hurdle. Then a couple more series of tests. The whole procedure took about three hours, including talking with my allergist afterward.

There is a good reason for me to know this information. If I were to have major surgery, such as for this situation, one doesn’t want to deal with the complicating factor of this patient having a bad reaction from the antibiotic.

Go to the link above for a couple of podcasts, including Penicillin Allergies: Over-diagnosed and Under-addressed.

The peanut

Since we’re on the broad topic, my daughter is for sure allergic to peanuts. I found this article on the nose. ” Things I Wish I’d Known About Raising A Child With A Peanut Allergy. My daughter’s diagnosis made me realize just how misunderstood life-threatening allergies are.” That is for CERTAIN, especially when she was younger.

The plan is for her to be in one of those trials that will, over time, to become acclimated to small bits of peanut. Unfortunately, because of COVID, that testing, to take place over several weeks, has been postponed. I do hope she gets the chance to participate in the next year.