kimmers for life

So much for posting every day...

Ok, so, updates!

Allergy testing: didn't happen. After asking me about a hundred questions and determining that no, I ddidn't recently start any new medications or travel to the Amazon or take up any bizarre new hobbies, the allergist basically shrugged and said he wasn't going to test me for allergies after all.

KIM: But... the hives? Surely I'm allergic to something?

ALL KNOWING DR: Ehhh. Maybe. And also maybe not. Sometimes people just get hives.

KIM: Um. Like when they are allergic to things?

At this point things got a little weird. The guy grabbed a wooden tongue depressor and scraped it down my arm in a Z shape, hard ebough to raise a red line. Which he then referred to as hives.

KIM: Um, those aren't hives... you scratched me. Of course my arm is red.

ALL KNOWING DR: Can't you see the hives?

KIM: Dude.... no. I see a red line from where you SCRATCHED ME. The hives I'm talking about were RAISED BUMPS THE SIZE OF SILVER DOLLARS.

ALL KNOWING DR: Well. I mean, you don't have hepatitis, you haven't been to the rainforest... I really wouldn't know what to test you for anyway, so... (shrug)

KIM: So... what now?

ALL KNOWING DR: Call me if you get the hives again.

I felt like saying yeah... you're definitely at the top of my In Case of Emergency list. I left already feeling bitter in anticipation of the astronomical bill I'm sure to receive for this guy's pearls of wisdom.

On the plus side, I've been ok since. So we'll see.

House: also didn't happen. It's going to... just not yet. We loved, loved, loooooved the house... but the kind of loan we wanted to get doesn't exist in the current market, so... it's back to the original plan to stay with Nick's mom for a while while we save up a down payment. Which is fine... I just really love this house. A small pathetic part of me is secretly hoping it might still be available when we are ready to put up a down payment. I know it's not too likely but it doesn't keep me from crossing my fingers.

Tentatively Hive Free

I woke up this morning with zero hives. My skin was totally calm all day. I'm (cautiously) relieved. I'm also going for allergy testing Tuesday afternoon... and I have to be off my pills for 3 days before that appointment. So... hoping for the best there.

In other news, Nick and I are going to look at a house tomorrow! Ironically, pretty much the only feedback I'd given our realtor so far was that we wouldn't be ready to look until late summer, and omg-we-hate-ranches. Days later I'm calling him and asking him to show us a house we found online, and what is it? A freaking ranch. But it's in Farmington, it's a great price, and it has a huge fenced in backyard... so what the hell. I called the realtor this morning, and he immediately scheduled us to see the house tomorrow and emailed us 60 other houses to take a look at online. So far I'm a huge fan of this guy.

I'm so impatient to buy a house. A real house, with space from neighbors, and room for all our shit to be put away, and a yard for the puppy we're dying to get. Very excited to go see this place tomorrow. Every time we go see a house it just makes the whole process seem more real.

Hive Update

So I went to the doctor, and he is extremely confident that yes, I am Very Allergic to something. When I saw the welts this morning (which quickly spread over my arms and alarmingly, started to move to my face) I was starting to think maybe I'd come into contact with Poison Ivy or something similar... but the doctor said nope, the problem is definitely an allergic reaction to something. He gave me 3 different antihistamines to take to relieve my symptoms and suggested that I go for allergy testing to see what the allergy is. After asking me all the standard what-new-product-have-you-started-using questions, he decided that most likely I have just recently developed a new allergy. I'm supposed to take my new pills for a few days to let my skin calm down and then call the allergist he referred me to.

After my appointment, I immediately came home and popped the first dose of pills. I laid on my bed with a book and promptly fell asleep... and when I woke up a few hours later, the welts on my arms were 99% gone and my face was back to normal. I'm definiely still getting a few welts here and there, but it's nothing like before, and I can deal with it. (Also, none on my face! Bonus!) Still... I'll probably just call the allergist tomorrow and make an appointment... may as well start trying to figure out what the allergy is, right?

One small complaint: one of the pills I started taking is Zyrtec, and when I just went to take the first one, I discovered that the pills are each idividually wrapped in hard plastic packaging. And extremely difficult to open. I mean... is that really necessary? They can't just come in a bottle? In a fit of frustration I ended up using my teeth to tear the package open, and I STILL wound up tossing the pack at Nick to finish extracting the damn pill.

Crossing my fingers that I wake up hive-free tomorrow morning...

Hopefully it just has to get worse before it gets better...

So last night I took my Benadryl, took a bath, and tried to chill out. And it worked! I had a few minor twitches of The Itch, but nothing I couldn't ignore. I went to bed feeling like I might be ok after all.

Then I woke up itching at 1 a.m. And 2:30. And when I woke up at 4, the itching was so bad I stumbled out of the room in search of Benadryl, frantically clawing at my arms along the way. And this time the Benadryl didn't kick in for over an hour. So I spent close an hour and a half lying in my bed willing myself not to scratch. Nick was nice enough to talk to me for a while, and we ran through the usual Allergy Checklist together (still can't think of anything). When I was still awake and semi-frantic at 5:30, I decided that it was probably time to go to the doctor.

When I woke up at 7 and saw huge scary welts on my arm near my elbow, this decision was reinforced. Doctor's office opens at 9, stay tuned.