Why the devil am I sick all the time?!!

You know how I seem to get sick every time the weather changes, which, in Utah, is freakishly often?

Turns out, there IS a reason!

Finally had the chance to go to an allergy specialist and after some itchy tests (pricking me in the back with a whole bunch of different/likely allergy-inducing compounds) he determined I'm allergic to all grass, most weeds and and a lot of trees.

Basically, it's like The Happening, except in real life (okay, I never saw that movie, so I don't know how like this it is).

Oh, also I have asthma. Surprise!

So, the dust in the air messes with my lungs, sinuses, and throat all through Spring, Summer, and Fall, so that they are so swollen they take the whole winter to recover... at which point spring arrives and it starts all over again. Any virus or bacteria that came along immediately got trapped in my lungs, which is why I get EVERY THING that comes along... like whooping cough, pneumonia, the flu...

I knew I had hay fever, and suspected I was allergic to some things, but I didn't realize quite how many! Sheesh! How in the world did I survive as a child in a subdivision in the foothills where there were no other houses for several years? I'm lucky that my brothers usually had the lawn-mowing duties covered!

Don't worry, I'm not pretending this is debilitating in any way. It's not cancer or MS or even diabetes. It's nowhere near life-changing, and the treatment isn't terribly inconvenient. The doctor only gave me two new medications and adjusted the others I was already taking. The allergies are more irritating than dangerous; I don't have to carry an epi-pen or anything, and I can totally play outside and perform in plays outside and stuff. It's just really nice to finally know what I'm dealing with and have a plan of action.

With any luck, I won't feel so dang sickly this winter or beyond. Hooray for knowledge!

My neighborhood tried to kill me!