12.21.08
Destiny imposes one of those little sets of parameters
I’ve had something confirmed for me that’s rather a drag to fully let in: I’ve become allergic to dogs.
I love dogs. Had dogs all through my growing-up years, and two of my most beloved family members in my adult years have been dogs. Since the last one passed on, we’ve been a cat household, but I’d figured someday I’d get another canine companion. I guess that won’t be.
Over the past year, I’ve had three or four episodes in which dramatic upheavals of my physical condition were clearly attributable to my having palled around with pooches. About a year ago, Mrs. BN and I went to my sister’s house for a dinner / holiday get-together. My nephew and his wife brought their little terrier, Oscar. We frolicked as we usually do. On the drive home, my eyes swelled nearly shut and tears cascaded down my puffy, blotchy cheeks. In the spring, I dog-sat for a family that went on vacation to Florida. The first day, I went to their house for a get-acquainted session, which involved much climbing on the couch, paws in the lap, licking and such. Within five minutes of leaving, I got the balloon-face syndrome again, this time with a little difficulty in breathing. Got some benadryl at the store and that’s how I made it through the week.
Last night, Mrs. BN and I attended a Christmas party. Great folks, great chow. good drinks, and two black labs with whom I engaged in human-canine fellowship. There was another guitarist there, and we played some music – carols, plus some blues and folk music. While we were playing, I noticed I couldn’t draw a decent breath. Also, again, my face felt all hot and itchy. Not wishing to appear melodramatic, I didn’t say anything at the time, but as we left and walked to our car, I mentioned it to Mrs. BN, told her I could feel my bronchial tubes swelling shut. I let her drive home. She seriously considered taking me to the ER, but I convinced her just to go on home. She let me puff on an inhaler she keps handy for her occasional bouts of athsma, and the relief was instant. I took two benadryls and went to bed.
This morning, while WS was out, she ran into a physician friend of ours and told him of my experience. He told her to have me get to a heallth-care provider first thing tomorrow morning and get tested. He said I’d probably given something I’ll need to keep with me at all times. He firmly told her to convey his admonishment to me that I must do this. He said that otherwise the next encounter could kill me.
Man, if anything can be filed under the category “aw, dang,” it’s the prospect of not making any more dog friends the rest of my life.
MR. Dings said,
December 21, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Now that is weird, but I have heard you can start becoming allergic to various allergens at any stage of life. Just pray it’s not your wife and hope she likewise prays for the same thing.
MR. Dings said,
December 21, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Now that is weird, but I have heard you can start becoming allergic to various allergens at any stage of life. Just pray it’s not your wife and hope she likewise prays for the same thing.
MR. Dings said,
December 21, 2008 at 7:49 pm
My wife, at age 45, suddenly became deathly allergic to bananas. She had a session that we handled with a call to the doctor. Two weeks later she took a bite out of a banana and saic, almost immediately, that she shouldn’t have oughta done dat. Within 10 minutes she had collapsed on the floor as the ambulance was arriving. She was damned near DOA. I think the deputy sheriff who accompanied the ambulance was suspicious of me because he had never heard of such a thing. He kept me within eyeshot until the doc, who was pretty puzzled too, told him she had not been poisoned. Weird. We think it had something to do with an antibiotic she was on at the same time of the first attack. The two in combo triggered the banana allergy and her second experience with the banana only pretty much capped the diagnosis. But the docs don’t have time to wonder why, theirs is to treat or you die, and, thank God she didn’t. That’s my allergy story, so far.
MR. Dings said,
December 21, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Oh, and now worse news. She was never the same with my banana after that either.
Bentnotesmanhisself said,
December 21, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Does she miss bananas? (The kind that grow on trees. Any other kind is between you and her – or maybe not between – ah, I’ve gone farther down that road than I should have.)
Antibiotics doesn’t seem to be a factor in the current situation, although I will mention the Doryx I’ve been taking since September to the nurse practitioner tomorrow.
Don’t know whether this will affect Mrs. BN’s attitude toward my sleek and well-groomed dachshund.
Charred Leaf said,
December 22, 2008 at 2:41 am
That is terrible. How strange. Oscar is considered hypoallergenic. If he gets you going, you have trouble.
MR. Dings said,
December 22, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Is your dachhund hairless? Just to be safe, better keep your hands off of it.
Yep, she misses them, always compared it to a recovering alkie missing booze, but, being one, I think there is a baffling compulsion for that that is lacking in food allergies. My own personal banana does indeed go far down the road, who knew? From what I can discern from the Chinese and Alternative (now termed Complimentary) medical literature, antibiotics can erode the digestive system linings, creating leaks which cause a host of disorders, including food allergies of sudden onset. 10 years ago we were basically told the origin is a mystery.
Damn, giving up dogs has to be close to having to give up God, talk about dark nights! Yet I too have discerned the comfort of cats, since ole Cuffy went on to that great couch on the sky. Much less trouble than dogs. I can take them or leave them, especially when they don’t have my heart. Sheesh, if people are allergic to household pets, ain’t it more likely to be cats?
May this comfort you, from that good time rockin’ Tao (te Ching), because along the way we all must give up many things:
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped. (#48)
MR. Dings said,
December 23, 2008 at 1:02 am
But I realize and empathize that the bloggie’s pursuit is happiness. No puppies, ain’t much funner than dead ones.