I blame a lot of my physical problem on stress and too often refuse to fully believe that I'm having a problem unless I can observe some sort of symptom (fever, racing pulse, swollen lips...). This is yet another reason I am the HORRIBLE warning, rather than the good example -- my history shows I'll slog till I'm seriously sick and whine about feeling cruddy along the way. Pleasant for everyone, effective coddling for the germs or histamine trying to takeover my body. I may be creating my own strain of supergerms that are strengthened by whining and caffeine.
Yesterday morning I was just going to make it on time to work when I got stuck in traffic. The normally swift moving highway went from creeping along to a complete standstill. As I sat there worrying about being late and trying (unsuccessfully) to log onto my work email via phone I started to feel the beginnings of a reaction-- tingly lips, painful joints, itchy throat. It wasn't something I eaten, since I'd postponed breakfast in favor of taking the dog for a springtime run. I had a paranoid thought that it was the exhaust from all the cars sitting still and made sure the air was on recirculate.
After a lifetime in traffic I finally approached my exit, where rubberneckers slowed things further with taking time to gape at a the accident made frighteningly beautiful by firetrucks spraying shimmering arcs of water over the highway onto a flaming tanker. As the full trucks sped back down the highway in a water-relay, police directed morning commuters slowly through the exit.
Chest tight and throat itching, I finally made it into the office where I can top off my daily dose of allergy meds and histamine blockers. I start digging through my in-box and get an email that puts me at risk for a cerebral aneurysm -- I can blame my slowly worsening symptoms on this.
Feeling like I'm on the edge of a major reaction make me nervous, which has the potential to make things worse. I do a little yoga breathing and take care of a few happier items before calling my direct teammate in the main office. "Amy." She has a friend with mega-allergies and a husband who is an ER doc and a good sense of humor, thus she can be relied on to be the voice of sanity. I call her to update her on my having made it into the office and joke that that everything will be fine as long as its not a popcorn truck that is burning.
Despite my pledge to keep my whining to a minimum, I'm tell the only other person in the office (my wonderful emergency contact) that I don't feel so good when she says makes the connection to the burning tanker truck. I honestly don't think a popcorn truck is on fire and the 10% ethanol gasoline in even the biggest truck engine would have burned away so quickly that it can not possible bother me.
Welcome to Absurdia.
She quickly finds the news: Ethanol Tanker Crash -- 8,000 gallons of ethanol are burning about half a mile (800 meters) from our office. Fire crews are keeping it under control while the fumes burn off. The highway will be closed for the next 5 hours as the truck burns.
I need to have my passport stamped, clearly we are not it Kansas any more.
I'm visiting Absurdia today. The thing I'm deathly allergic to is spilling on the ground, putting fumes into the air and ON FIRE across a big field from my office. That's why my lips are pufffed up and my throat itches. That's why my chest is tight. That's why I'm dizzy. That's..uh....it could EXPLODE!! OH. For. Pete's. Freaking, Sake. 8,000 gallons of CORN on FIRE is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in anyone's book.
The good news is I'm not at risk for an aneurysm (today)...I can stay and hope that this is as bad as it gets. Or I get the heck out of dodge before something worse happens -- like the tanker exploding. I may think my job is important but there is nothing that requires me to risk my life, we are not preforming surgery or talking people off ledges.
Epi-Pen in hand, I take a couple wal-dryl* and drive home (not recommended procedure) to put my head under the pillow till I feel ready to deal with Absurdia. I may be having culture shock.
Wonder if I'll need a visa and shots if I'm staying for awhile.
*Walgrenes benadryl -- listed as "virtually" corn-free on the corn free foods list
7 comments:
Haven't logged on in a while, so I just read your post. Two days ago, in our break room, one of the managers decided to blow up a Peep in the Microwave during a meeting. My co-workers were stunned at how fast I got an asthma attack from the hot marshmallow! Seems like no place is safe! Glad your co-worker was on top of it.
OMG and I can't take Waldryl. I think I would be having issues that a tanker on fire too!!!! I am having more issues with air / lung allergies!
Hi Christine,
My name is Amanda, and I was married to the truck driver you are referring to in your blog, and he was the father to our 3 year old son. Seriously, listening to you complain about how horrible this experience was for you makes me SICK! So sorry you had a "bad reaction" but at least while my husband was dying, you were at least able to watch the "frighteninly beautiful" accident that took his life!! It's also nice to hear you joke, "at least it wasn't a popcorn truck"! What a joke about a cerebral aneurysm??? Did you know the trucker's mom died 5 1/2 months after her son did, from all the stress, and she had a brain aneurysm? I wish you would've gotten an aneurysm and I wish the tanker would've blown up, so the whole experience could've been so much worse for YOU!! Again, so sorry my husband's death caused you to have such a horrible day!!
Dear Amanda, first let me say how sorry I am for your double loss. However, remember that Christine could have died, too. And it would have happened without notice, no sirens blowing, no drama-she would have just died. The point she was making was that anything could kill us at a moment's notice.
A "bad reaction" can be deadly.
Hi Christine, I recently joined the ranks of being allergic to corn, and am spending a lot of time online, looking for resources. I found your blog, and was reading through your posts, and discovered you don't have skin products. I found Herbal Choice Mari, and have contacted them to confirm that they're corn free. This line (no others on the site) is corn free. I've only been using their products for a couple of weeks, but I've been really happy so far! I'm incredibly frustrated by this allergy, and keep looking for the silver lining in having a corn allergy. I look forward to reading your blog!
Jessica
. I really like the concept of adding that conference to the cards! & i'm aiming to write things on the rear to assist American state keep in mind WHO is WHO. i'm going in a very number of days for my initial conference. Thanks!
Loved reading thiss thank you
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