h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Our last visit to Ohio was just torture for me. I stayed overnight at my mother-in-law's house just once when TJ and I first got engaged, and I felt so ill, that we stay at hotels now. I'm so allergic to her little dog ... not to mention the dust (so I won't). Well, things have just gotten worse there (which is one of the reasons we want her to live with us), and I couldn't even stand to be inside her house for more than a few minutes. One of her daughters have been living with her for the past year, and she has a dog also. Staying outside isn't an option at Christmas time though, and if we're going to be moving to Ohio, I have to get medication to deal with the dogs, cigarettes and dust the seem to always surround my in-laws, so I finally went to an allergist/asthma specialist. I just thought I'd be getting better allergy medication, but it turns out I have asthma! And the was berating me for not taking it seriously enough. Geez, doesn't everybody double over in pain when they try to breathe, and cough like they've just finished smoking a cigar?

So now I'm taking Singulair and have an Albuterol inhaler ... just like the kid in the Goonies! How cool am I? Sodit is the day I get the allergy test and find out how much of the world isn't my oyster.

The inhaler came just in time! Today they decided to finally throw out the large, teetering pile of newspapers that sat about 10 feet in front of my desk (when I say large, I mean large ... to the ceiling). They filled a large rolling bin, and a large rolling garbage can. Of course, by the time I got here, the air was full of dust, and the bin was sitting right in front of my desk. I got my boss to move it for me, but needed the inhaler. Good stuff! Now I wish I had gone to the earlier. Would have saved a lot of misery!

*wags her finger at Shea*

Shea! Thinking all that was sexy...

Dearest Shwa.gentle

How come no-one ever thought you had asthma?

It is totally horrid but you just have to stay away from all the things which bring it on.

If you swim, do try and swim regularly - it exercises your lungs very efficiently!

I know about asthma because that is what my darling Dick had. And you descibed the breathing perfectly.
Hope the inhaler and medication are helping.
Much
Christiane

I was diagnosed with asthma a couple of years ago when I thought I had the mother of all colds that just wouldn't go away. I have an albuterol inhaler, but in the last year I've also gotten an Advair diskus, and Singulair for allergic rhinitis, and I rarely ever use the albuterol.

And I get to live with all the things I love: my dog and three cats, my sometimes insufficient housekeeping skills, and at need, smoking relatives.

I hope everything works out okay for you Shea .
And I don't envy you the allergy test.

Sorry to hear about the diagnosis Shea but at least you now know what it is.

Yeah, now I know what it is. I got an Advair diskus last night as well, since I wasn't feeling "better than I have in years" ('s quote). My allergy test came up negative! Whodathunk? He said it might be because the antihistamine was still in my body. I try again on Thing.

Worse than all of that though, is the diagnosis that my sister got of breast cancer yesterday. She's very scared, and things are just getting rolling on her further diagnosis and treatment. It's in the very early stages, and she's young and healthy, so I just pray she'll be okay.

*And* I just found out that my sister-in-law has a suspicious lump that she's getting checked out tomorrow ... *and* now my wants me to be more aggressive than recommended on my "abnormal" mammography from last week. Just a bunch of irregular boobs, aren't we?

You know Shea when I did the walk for Cancer last summer there was a special dinner for survivors. I met lots and lots of breast cancer survivors. Caught early it's treatable.

Hi dearest Shea,

The old adage "It never rans but it pours" seems to be particularly apt in this case.

It is incredible that an allergy test can be returned with the result marked as Abnormal.

Why is it abnormal?
There must be a host of reasons for that which should be investigated.


So sorry about the news of your sister and sister-in-kaw, Batty has very good advice though.
As for yourself, ing thoughts and prayers with you both.

All our affection

Christiane and K>

Hi honey

Sorry about the confusion about the two tests.

Hope you understand what I mean!

Much

Christiane big

Seems everyone is breaking out.

My great aunt disovered lumps in her breast and armpit the other day so she's gettign those checked.

she's previously beaten skin cancer so we're not sure what the outcome will be.

Shea, asthma is getting to be more and more common. I take it as a sign of deterioration in the quality of the air we all breathe. Some of us are just more sensitive than others. I was on albuterol and another inhaler for two months this Spring because of a nasty viral infection in my throat/lungs/sinuses. I'm off it now, but at some future time I might get asthma for real.

Just be grateful that there are good treatments for asthma these days. Heck, in some schools in Massachusetts, 20 to 25% of the students take asthma medication. That's,nothing to sneeze at.

No, it's something to wheeze at, though! I hope you don't end up developing asthma, Paul. Methinks you take enough pills already! I suppose I'm lucky that it's a milder form, and I'm not in constant misery! The said he wants to make sure I have no more "bad" days, so it's great to finally get some treatment!

I understood what you meant Christiane, never fear!

Turns out my sister-in-law's lump was a cyst. Yay! She does a monthly breast self-exam, and gets checked regularly, so she spotted the lump herself. Let's hope your aunt has the same diagnosis, Clive!

Thanks for the "stats" Batty, my sister's been told she's very early, and we'll find out more tomorrow. She was focussing on her sister-in-law who died young, but she had many other problems besides her breast cancer. She's now focussing on a family friend who was told she had 1 year to live about 40 years ago. I suppose she'll end up coming to that 1 year eventually.

I'm going to wait until I see my GP next week to make a decision for myself. I have an appointment for something unrelated, so I'll see if she has a specialist closer to home to recommend. If not, I'll go with the oncologist my groinecologist recommended, even if he is 30 miles away.

s all around, and prayers/good thoughts are very welcome!