I Recant Last Night's Post....

If you have a mosquito bite on the back if your heel you SHOULD scratch it because....
If you don't scratch it when it itches you will accidentally rub it on your pant leg.
And if you accidentally rub it on your pant leg it will become itchy at an inopportune time.
And if it becomes itchy at an inopportune time you will need to scratch it while you are busy.
And if you need to scratch it while you are busy you might try to rub it with your other shin.
And if you try to rub it on your other shin you might lose your balance.
And if you lose your balance you might step back and schmuck the side of your ankle on the bottom of hardwood stairwell.
And if you step back and schmuck the side of your ankle on the bottom if a hardwood stair it will hurt a lot.
This I know from experience.
Ow.

Best Mosquito Bite Remedy EVER!!!!

I have found the BEST. MOSQUITO. BITE. REMEDY. EVER!!!! Scroll down to view....















Nothing!!!!
Just don't scratch it!
If you can get IVs of crap every 8 weeks.
If you can live with the pain of CD everyday.
You can not scratch that dang mosquito bite.
Mind over matter.
That mosquito just took a drop of your blood.
Without even asking.
Don't give it the satisfaction.
Of itching for two days.
(Or longer).
Just.
Don't.
Scratch....


....and if that doesn't work the old baking soda/ice cold water paste remedy will work wonders as well.
;)
Happy Monday!

Food Update #484....

Marshmallows are out.
Rough night last night.
Didn't sleep at all.
Despite 50mg. of Benadryl.
That is all....

Huffing, Puffing, Pokes, Prods and A Hard Decision....

I got allergy testing today. And I am itchy. Here's how it all went down....

I went to the office and the nurse asked me a BAZILLION questions. Seriously it felt like it would never end. Everything I'm allergic to, how I react and to what extent, how long the reactions last and what I do for the reaction. Along with other conditions, meds., surgeries. Basically she's my new BFF. She charted it all and then I saw the doc.

Dr. F is awesome! He ran through everything in a little more detail than the nurse along with more stuff I don't even remember (I think I was in the office for a total of two hours). He told me he was going to do two tests; a skin test to tell exactly WHAT and HOW allergic I am to certain things and a breathing test to check my Asthma to see if I even qualify for allergy shots--

WAIT!

HOLD UP!

WHAT?

ALLERGY SHOTS!?!?

But I remain calm and do the breathing test first. It involves breathing in super fast then breathing out for 6 seconds as hard a you can and finally taking another big breath in. I did it three times and became very light headed. And I only did it three times because apparently I did learn circular breathing while playing the trombone and I kept messing up the graph on the machine. I took some Ventolin and did it again and he said all was good.

Next was the skin test. The nurse rubbed my forearms down with alcohol then put four rows of 12 little marks with a pen down the sides. She then put little drops of allergens all down next to the pen lines according to her chart. Then she scored them all with a little razor type thing. Don't worry. On a scale of nothing to 4 failed IVs in one day it's MUCH closer to nothing. I waited 15 minutes and some bumps appeared. In all about half of them reacted and about 3/4 of them were pretty big (5-12mm).

I forgot to take a picture at the office but this is what my arms looked like an hour and a Benedryl later when I got home.

These blotches mean I'm highly allergic to cats/dog/rats and other animals, tree (especially Birch) pollen and grasses. And I'm moderately allergic to Ragweed and Mould.

I am a perfect candidate for allergy shots (but keep reading for the dilemma part of this post).

That means I will to on the top of the medication pyramid for TWO different medications for TWO different conditions.

I wouldn't stand next to me in a rain storm....

The only thing about these "Allergy Shots" is that it could make my Crohn's Disease worse. Dr. F said it like this.

Most normal people are here.

Because I have Crohn's I am here.

But I also have allergies so therefore I am here and here simultaneously.

In order to try and get my allergy symptoms back to "normal" allergy shots push you towards
the "normal" line.

But because I have Crohn's and I'm on Remicade all the pushing
on the allergy side will cause some pushing on the Crohn's side
it could make it worse.

So obviously I have some things to mull over. And the worst part is that he said it's only a new link that they are finding between immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases so there's not even any information on it online! You know how I like to research the crap out of things before they enter my body! Maybe I'll go and have a nice long chat with Dr. P.........

Let The Antihistamine Detox Commence....

No literally! Hello my name is Kylee and I'm addicted to antihistamines. I've taken at least 1 Claritin, Aerius, Allegra, Reactin, and most recently Zyrtec every day since I turned 12. That's 10 years. And I can count on my hands the times I've missed taking it. And never two days in a row. Spring, summer, winter or fall I diligently take a pill every morning. Why all the time you ask? Well....

Besides the unfortunate affliction of Crohn's Disease and my daily fights with Little Crohnsie Bit I have COPIUS amounts of allergies. I'm talking to just about everything. Let me list SOME of them shall I....
-environmental (pollen, grass, dust, ect. like a lot of people, no big deal).
-cats (again no big deal).
-all kinds of fabric softener except 1 certain hypoallergenic brand.
-every antibiotic they give my except Azithromycin (no more than 250mg a day) and Flagyl (which you can only get when admitted into the hospital because it costs so much).
-rats(a weird one I thought I'd throw in).
-all fruit (with the exception of watermelon and blueberries at certain times of the year if I take Benadryl 20 minutes before I eat it).
-some raw vegetables.
Some or a combination of these things can make me break out in hives, wheeze, make me lightheaded, make my heart beat fast, make my throat/tongue tingle/swell, make my eyes swell shut or itch to the point I that I break the skin and make myself bleed while some just make me sneeze, cough or eyes itchy. Especially at this time of year. And it happens anywhere, anytime. The antihistamines above just keep some of the milder symptoms at bay but if I encounter something that my body does not like sometimes 50mg of Benadryl is the only thing that gives me any relief and sometimes that doesn't seem to work as well as it used to.

So why the detox you ask? Well after two years of waiting I finally have an allergist appointment I can keep (I had three different appointments while I was on Prednisone, none of which I could keep) on Monday and for the testing you can't have any antihistamines in your system for at least 48 hours beforehand. That means Friday morning (39 hours ago) was my last one and I am in full detox mode. I mean detox. You'd think I'm coming down off of meth or something. I'm getting the sweats/hot and cold flashes, itchy all over, my leg is rubbed raw in no less than three areas, I feel like there are bugs crawling all over me, I'm nauseous and my eyes are so itchy I could claw them out on a whim.

Oh well, only 38 more hours to go. I'm over half way there right?!?!

Caterpillars Everywhere and Way To Hot To Think....

Day 1 of my "Caterpillar Experiment" and I think it's started out well. We collected 4 Tent Caterpillars; 2 large ones, one medium one and one tiny one. We have affectionately named them Papa Bear 1, Papa Bear 2, Mama Bear and Baby Bear (remember I deal with three year olds). We put them in a large plastic container with sand in the bottom and four large sticks for them to "play on, you know like a park?" and some leaves "so they can have snack". Then we did this in another container but this time we put in other caterpillars. I'm not sure exactly what kind they were but I think they turn into Swallow tail butterflies. And we put so many of those little suckers in there we didn't name them. Although I heard the names "Pinkalicious", "Sparkly" and "Mario" being thrown around. I personally kept the names "Hopeful" and "Resilient" in mind while they were tossing the containers around.
In other news, if the kids don't kill the poor little creatures, the heat just might. The temperature as per Le Green Monster on my way home at 5pm....

The Death Of Yet Another Food....

Well, Carrot Salad is officially out. Just thought you all should know so that you can grieve in your own way. I know I am....

Rest In Peace dearest Carrot and Raisin Salad, you were my favourite since I was a small child and now you are but a distant memory.... :'(

Forget It....

Ok so I had this totally wickedly awseome long blog post I thought out in the middle of the night last night when I couldn't sleep and I've been trying to remember it all day but do you think I could? Nope! I blame the 'roids.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day....
At least it's the weekend.... :)

The End Of An Era....

So tonight, Monday May 21st 2012 something else is coming to an end. One of my favourite television shows of all time, House, MD is having it's big finale. I was doing some research and math and realised that this show means more to me than even I know....

This show started on November 16th 2004. I was 14, and in grade 9. I am now done high school and working full time. I have both learned to drive and bought a car.There have been 177 episodes. The last of which ending tonight. I have seen every one at least 5 times, some up to 20 . This show has gotten me through a diagnoses of Crohn's Disease and all of the subsequent couch time that goes along with being so sick. This show taught me what Erythropoietic Protoporphyria, Inamrinone, and Thrombocytopenia are and what they do.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I'm going to miss you Dr Gregory House. Thanks for all the escape you have provided for me. I wish you would never have to end but I guess you can't always get what you want....

A life sized banner of the good Doc himself.

World IBD Day....

And because making videos is what I do....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCi5M5ufck4