Just a Little Reaction

When you get up in the morning you can't ever be sure that your day is going to unfold in the normal way, just an uneventful slog through a Tuesday.

Yesterday I ran over to my allergist at 9 a.m. to get my regular allergy injections--like I've been doing for twenty years--then high-tailed it to work, about ten miles away. I barely got settled at my desk before becoming aware that something was amiss. My eyes suddenly were swollen, hives were all over my face. Hot and itchy. But when I could feel lumps in my tongue I decided I better call the doctor.

GET BACK HERE NOW they said. I was developing a fairly impressive anaphylactic reaction to my injections.

I jumped in the car and drove the ten miles back, to be greeted at the door of the doctor's office by two nurses and the doctor. They shot me full of adrenalin, gave me antihistamines and a handful of prednisone, and made me sit in the office till I looked human once again and it was reasonably certain the reaction was subsiding.

Holy smoke, I NEVER should have driven by myself. If that reaction had progressed to breathing difficulty, I could have been a goner along the side of the road before anyone else knew anything was wrong.

There's a lesson: when I got back, I told the gang at the library that if this ever happens again, ASSUME I'm not thinking clearly.

Hay fever. I've always said it was the world's most boring affliction. But I guess even hay fever has its moments.