Rant #3,285: Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Allergy shots.

I am starting out this Rant with that phrase as hose shots had been a major part of my life up until I first injured myself at the end of September of last year.

I always had allergies; not any food problems, but the usual hay fever, seasonal-type allergies, but times 1,000.

My mother often said thst she thought I was born with allergies, and from infancy on through my teenage years, I flat out suffered ... and there was pretty much little to nothing that I could do about it, because the study of allergies was in its early stages as I went from childhood to my young teenage years.

Finally, in 1972, at 15 years old, the study of the type of allergies that I had progressed to the point that a test had been developed to  determine what people like me were allergic to.

I took the test--known as the "staple gun" test, as your arms were literally punctured with chemicals during the testing--and it was found that I was allergic to the entire fall season, horses, something called the Jerome bush, and several other things.

And with thst determination, I began my more than 50-year practice of getting allergy shots each and every month.

I got either one, two or three shots in my arm for the next 50-plus years, never missing a month, so from the age of 15 through the age of about 66 and a half, i got shots each and every month.

And they helped me to cope with this curse to the extent thst it just became part of my health regimen.

Then at the end of September 2023 I injured myself about a week after I had gotten my monthly shots, and for the past five months or so, I have gone without my shots.

There have just been too many things going on all at once, and with my wife doing all of the heavy lifting, there has not been the time to go out of our way to western Nassau County.to get the shots.

I figured I woukdcresume the shots when I was able to drive myself to the allergist office to get them, but--

Early on, I felt I was doing well without the shots; in fact, doctors suggest thst you take breaks where you don't take the shots, giving your body a pause in this treatment.

But lately, I notice that things have gone south.

I am blowing my nose a bit more, I am clearing my throat more than I had been doing, I am shorter in breath on occasion, and when you add everything up, I think the time has come to restart the shots.

I called up the allergist yesterday morning, and since I took such a break from the shots, I will have to be re-tested.

It is not as bad as it was 50 yesrs ago, where the test left my arms pockmarked for weeks on end; I believe it is a blood test, so it shouldn't be too bad.

So I will have that test done next week, and with me going through other tests with my new doctor and my physical therapy, next week.promises to be a very busy week for me health-wise.

But at the end of all of this, I know I will be much better off in the long run ...

Now thst I can figuratively breathe better that the house has been sold, I will be able to literally breathe better when I start getting the shots again.

Onward and upward!