THE ILLUSTRATED MAN

No, I haven’t gone the tattoo route.  It’s all washable.  I finally got to the skin-testing phase in this very long saga of sinusitis and respiratory problems.  My back became a Mark-a-lot canvas, and then they applied the test allergens by pin-pricking each one four or five times in a little circle next to the appropriate number.  It felt like a school of sea urchins had taken up residence on my posterior.

I had to lie there for twenty minutes while the nasties did their thing. The biggest reaction turned out to be to dust & dust mites, with lesser but significant responses to molds, grasses, and, of all things, sycamores!  That one is hard to figure.  We’ve lived for forty years in the same house on a street lined with (now) 90-year-old sycamores with no problems.  So, why now?  Given the severity of my sinus and respiratory problems, I think my doc was a little disappointed that there wasn’t something more specific that I would react to in a big way.

So, the next step is to start six months or so of desensitization shots to see if the problems fade away.  That again cramps our spring and summer travel plans, but a small price if something actually works.