So, allergies. Huh. Somehow when you pay someone to perform medical tests to tell you officially what you sort of knew anyway, it suddenly makes things seem more serious --or at least encourages you to start taking things more seriously. It turns out I'm allergic to ragweed, trees, mixed weeds, mixed molds, phoma mold, cats, dogs, mixed animals, dust mites, and highly allergic to dust.
Now I have to decide what to change and how. I essentially have 3 choices, or some combination thereof. I can either a) use $30 a month of my HRA money to use Flonase for the foreseeable future, with additional allergy pills and eyedrops on a fairly regular basis to control the acute attacks, b) suck up the rest of my HRA money in short order (and then have to start actually paying some of my medical expenses out of pocket) so I can start doing allergy shots for 4-5 years, or c) spend a buttload of money on a new air purifier, new vacuum cleaner, dust mite casings, etc. AND start cleaning regularly and changing the sheets every couple of weeks. That's like, 4-6 times more often than I do now. And it's a lot more laundry. And we're talking way, way, way more cleaning than I do now. With a mask. And trying to convince the cats that after 11 years they can no longer sleep next to me in bed. And keeping the windows closed most of the months of the year that it's finally warm enough to have them open.
So, essentially, the "allergen avoidance" route means adopting a new lifestyle completely antithetical to my current mode of existence. I'm not thrilled about that prospect.
On the other hand, I'm not thrilled about being reliant on pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life in order to function.
And while I generally like the idea of using drugs to improve the functioning of my own immune system by using the shots, I'm not necessarily thrilled about the expense (and time for all those appointments) of doing this for 5 years, especially since it doesn't guarantee I'll be "cured" for the rest of my life.
In all this, I'm remembering that my dentist told me I must have an incredible immune system to have gone 11 years without any dental care and still have strong, healthy teeth. Hmmmm.
And speaking of teeth, I was waiting to figure out where the allergy issue was going so I could move on to making decisions about getting my now-partially-erupted wisdom tooth removed and getting new glasses, since it's been about 3-4 years since I got my eyes checked and got these glasses. Oh, yeah, and Gytha needs to go to the vet sooner or later about her bald spot. I'm glad I didn't go ahead and place my Bluestone Perennials order last night.
~sigh~
~SIGH~
And I still haven't bought a sun light for my seasonal depression issues. Which I was seriously regretting a week or so ago.
~sigh~
Most of this has to do with money, and how I don't have enough to just do everything. I've got this much money that I need to stretch out to tttttttttt hhhhhhhhhhhhh iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ssssssssssssss much. Granted (hahahaha, if only) we should get a decent tax refund that can go to paying off things like a new vacuum cleaner. But that was already supposed to pay down my credit cards and replace my depleted savings account.
~SIGH~
If only writing about things actually made them better...
