Hives with a Sprinkle of Anaphylaxis

I am currently on three shots for my allergies, once a week. I drive the half hour to the doctors office to get stuck with three needles, two in one arm, one in the other, to then wait another half hour to make sure I don't have a deadly reaction, and you know... DIE.

So four weeks ago, I went in and they had upped my dose. It went fine. No big reaction other than I had itchy arms like usual.

I went in for my shots again the next week.

I was sitting, waiting for the half hour to be up and my ears were itching. For those of you unaware, I have four piercing in each ear, (two holes in each lobe, a industrial in my left ear, my cartilage and tragus in my right ear). I didn't think much of this situation. Itchy ears? No big deal! Right?

WRONG.

So my ears were itching, and a little hot, but I still felt like I was okay.

The half hour mark rolled over, and I had to go to work anyways, so I went up to the counter, showed them my arms which were literally having NO reaction whatsoever, and went about my day.

I was about twenty minutes away from the allergy office when I started having an itchy neck. And then I was having shortness of breath. And I looked at myself in my mirror and saw that I was red. Really red.

And then I watched as hives slowly started popping out of my face like huge demon zits on my neck and over my chin.

I should mention that bumps of any kind totally freak me out. Like scar bumps, pimples, zits, cysts... every single bump thing I have seen pretty much can put me on the track to vomiting up anything that might be sitting in my stomach. So watching these bumps little crawl up my neck like egyptian scarabs in The Mummy made me want to puke all over myself.

I knew at this point I either needed to go back to my allergy office or find and Urgent Care center.

I was fifteen minutes away from the Urgent Care and twenty from the allergy office so I picked the Urgent Care.

I drove there in a state of panic, parked my car, and ran over to the Urgent Care.

"Uh, hi," I wheezed out, "I wasn't sure if I should go here, or to like, the emergency room, but its cheaper to come here for my insurance..."

"Uh." The receptionist was great with words.

"I got my allergy shots and now I am like breaking out... I just need like benadryl?" I thought I was going to pass out from using all of my meager oxygen.

"Right, here." She handed me some forms as the doctor, a tiny little asian lady saw me.

"Oh my goodness! What's happening? What did you eat?"

I again explain how I got my allergy shot, stayed at the office the required thirty minutes and started breaking out after I had left. And all the while I am having to call my dad and get the insurance number from him.

And my dad, whom I love, decides he needs to have a twenty minute conversation with me.

"Dad, look, I have to go. I am like breaking out in hives, so I need to go see the doctor."

"Right, right. I'll be up in a little bit."

When I finally do hang up, I am ushered back to a room where I am asked all of these questions, the whole while my face so swollen up, its gone numb. My lips had swollen up to almost the size of three twizzlers wrapped together. And I was pretty sure that no one could tell the difference between my face and my neck.

Finally my dad arrived just as the little asian doctor came in with a triple dose of benadryl and a quintuple dose of prednisone. They were in liquid form, but I took them like a shot, washed it back with some water, and waited for the magic to happen.

"You're puffy," is literally the first thing my dad says to me.

"Yeah, I can't really feel my face." It's possible that my skin is just going to straight up burst and all of my blood and muscles are going to spill out onto the floor.

After about twenty minutes, I can feel my blood pressure lower. The throbbing heat in my ears had finally started to abate. And my breathing, which was more like tiny gasps into lungs that felt filled with seawater, had cleared up. With a little sigh, I was able to sit back.

When the doctor finally released me, I was sent home with a prescription for an epipen and more prednisone. What I intended to do was to go home and sleep off the benadryl, but instead I had a million things to do and ended up being awake to well past midnight.

In the end, I went back for my allergy shots the next week, but it was a slightly decreased dose. And I am required to take allergy meds an hour before each appointment. But at least I survived hives and a decreased ability to breath. I would say that is pretty good.

Reasons Not to Park on My Street

My wonderful boyfriend Ethan decided to come down to my house Friday night. He legally parked his car across the street from my apartment and came on up for beer and popcorn and movie called Croczilla.

We went to bed around midnight or so, then the next morning got up for bagels, coffee and a little game of Donkey Kong. Around 12:30, we decided to make our way downstairs so we could start our epic date, (we were going to the Train Museum then to a brewery for dinner!). He was being incredibly helpful and taking out my recycling, (because I actually do try in little ways to save the planet) so he gave me the keys, "So you can start the AC."

Naturally, I hopped down the street in my cute little dress to the end of the sidewalk. I looked right, (the direction he usually parked), then left. And then I looked back at him on the second floor looking over at me. I scrunched up my face, (partially to do with sun exposure, and partially out of confusion). He had to be fucking with me. He had to have parked his car down the street, out of view. That was why he had given me the keys, so play a game of confusion and treachery. Because my first thought was OH MY GOD HIS CAR HAS BEEN FUCKING STOLEN!

"You see the car, right?" He called.

"Uh..."

"Ana, you see the car right?" Now I was definitely thinking he was pulling my leg.

"Where... did you park it?" I wasn't feeling annoyed really, just like he was playing a very silly game.

He proceeded to talk the the neighbor who happened to be smoking outside on the fire escape. I distinctly heard, "No... no way."

"Ethan?" I called.

"Just one minute." He went back upstairs then came back down, (needing to return my recycle bin) and looked as perturbed as I felt.

"Holy shit. He's right. The fucking car is gone."

WHAT?!

"What?" I end up yelping like a kicked dog. Then he tells me what the neighbor told him.

A drunk asshole in that silver Sierra, *queue pointing down the street* was driving down the street at around ten, ten-thirty, decided to make a left turn in his car. FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

The car scraped the road, ended up on the curb, and was basically smashed into smithereens.

I had to see the truck.

Walking down, the front driver side of the bumper was basically shorn off, and covered in red car paint, but there wasn't a whole lot more damage. (I mean, yes, Lil' Red Car did some serious damage, but I wish his car had been demolished).

After walking around for a little bit, looking at what I have been calling the scene of the crime, a cop did come around and talk to us. He told us that the guy had been arrested and all his information taken, (which we still aren't sure means that he has insurance until the police report was filed last night at eleven). The car was towed to the city tow lots, (WHICH OH MY FUCKING GOD WE CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE FUCKING CAR UNTIL MONDAY) and we were left to wonder what the fuck happened for close to a half hour.

So the pros are the asshole was arrested, and that bitch isn't going anywhere.
Ethan and I are uninjured.
Our neighbor was kind enough to have collected a little information for us.

The cons are OH MY GOD THE CAR IS TOTALLED.

Yep, that's pretty much it. I think that is a pretty big con. Because it sucks balls, and is stupid, and a totally freak incident because there was NO REASON to turn left there. AT ALL.

But I guess I will look at the brightside that yes, Ethan and I are unharmed. And that is very good.