So, a few years ago I got a rash, and the rash turned into hives, and the hives kept coming back, and then the hives turned into the scary swollen face and throat kind, and I ended up in the hospital a couple of times with the wheezing and inflated-looking head, and this all happened over the course of a couple of months, and the doctors said "Allergies!" and I had a billion tests, but nothing ever showed up on the tests that would cause such a reaction. The doctors gave me a prescription for some kind of antihistamine that I should take all the time, told me to stay away from nuts because even though the tests were inconclusive, they still kinda thought that maybe somehow nuts were involved maybe or something. Maybe. Who knows. So I took the pills, and I eschewed the nuts, and the hives didn't come back. Then months and months went by without another attack, then years went by without another attack, and I stopped taking the antihistamines because...well, I don't really have a good reason other than I didn't feel like taking them anymore...and the hives still didn't come back, and then I started eating nuts again, and the hives still didn't come back, and then I moved to Columbus. I was in Columbus about a month when the hives came back with a vengeance. I hadn't had any nuts, and I couldn't for the freaking life of me figure out what I might have eaten to cause the reaction, and I thought that perhaps a new doctor with a fresh perspective might be able to shed some light on the situation. So I made an appointment and went through another billion tests; the standard scratch tests across the back, the uncommon scratch tests across the back, tiny pockets of allergen goo injected under my skin all up and down both of my arms, and any other test they could think to give me. Once again, no conclusive results came from any of it. Oh sure, they discovered I'm allergic to dust mites and hamsters and grass and sniffly sneezy crap like that, but none of the things to which I'm allergic would cause the anaphylactic reaction that I had been experiencing. And I was all WTF, right, because no matter what their stupid tests say, something out there is causing all this crap, but the best explanation any of the doctor people could come up with is that there is something out there to which I'm deathly allergic, but only when other factors are present such as hormonal changes or when my immune system is compromised or when I come in contact with the thing at the same time as another thing and it's this combination that's causing the reaction. Or something. Maybe. But here's another handful of antihistamines and maybe you should take them just in case thanks.

And now the hives are back again, as nasty as ever, and I had to go in to be pumped full of some damn thing or another to keep my head from exploding, and all anyone can say is that, yes, there is something to which I'm allergic, something that could potentially kill me, but something that they have no way of identifying, um, sorry. Which, as you might imagine, makes me quite cranky.

Plus, my left eye is all droopy right now, and my doctor isn't sure why. She took a ridiculous amount of blood for testing purposes, and told me she'd get back to me. The next step is an MRI, but I sincerely hope she finds something in the blood tests, because the only things an MRI could show would be scary things, and, like, goddamnit, you know?

Of course, the only reason I know all the scarier things that could cause a droopy eye is because I'm addicted to the inTaRWeb, and I can't stop looking symptoms up and deciding that I have every single disease the various sites describe, which is freaking me out completely, as you might imagine.

I should probably stop doing that.

I'm sure it's fine, and I probably won't ever die from my allergies, but right now I'm just cranky and whiney and ranty. Plus, the PMS isn't helping any at all. Blech. Just ignore me, and I'll eventually get over my hormonally-induced pissy-ass mood.

So anyway, moving on to better things...

I got a promotion at work, which is totally aces. Mostly, at any rate. I mean, the raise is substantial, and I get an additional two weeks of vacation, and I have a shiny new assistant to boss around to my heart's content, all of which is awesome. But the job, it is a bite in the ass. It's big, and there's a sick amount of responsibility, and while I'm always up for a challenge, this job might be the death of me. They haven't been able to keep a person in the position for more than a year for a long time, and I am apprehensive. I would tell you what it is, but I probably shouldn't, because then you could probably figure out where I work, which is probably a bad thing, not that I don't trust you all, but you know how it goes. I will say that if I were to tell you the name of the organization for which I work, one thing would instantly come to mind, the thing for which my organization is probably best known, and I am now in charge of that thing for most of central and southern Ohio. Cryptic enough for you? Yes, well, so anyway, we'll see how the job goes. I think I'm up to it, I'm eager to start tearing shit up, but we'll see.

On a side note, I figured out that if I were to take all my vacation time, personal time and sick time, I could take a week off every other month, and an extra three day week during the months I don't take a week off. Not too shabby, huh? And that doesn't even include time off for holidays. All together, out of the 260 week days during the year, I only work 211. Well. If I take all my sick time, that is, which I never do, but whatever.

Dear lord, this entry is dull. The end.

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