Holidays

It's a lovely Easter Sunday here, as I sit homebound for the 3rd day. The last 2 were loaded with benadryl from a reaction beginning on Fri., right after I finished with my prednisone taper from a reaction that I couldn't get out of for a week. I know I have progressed with the disease of natural rubber latex allergy.

Because of this, I have missed 2 social functions this weekend. I rarely have social functions to go to, and, it never fails. I can't make it to them.

Holidays have never really meant a lot to me because as a nurse I worked half of them for 25 years. No one ever made their holiday plans around my work schedule. That includes 2 ex-husbands and their families. I pretty much became immune to holidays. I do have several that were my big favorites that I could participate in somewhere after I finished at work. I think I'll just list all that I can because I'm in a fowl mood, maybe withdrawal from the prednisone.

New Year's Eve-balloons are always part of the decor anywhere. Then in restaurant/bars, latex gloves are used for food service. Well, I usually sleep thru midnite anyway.

Valentine's Day-It does help to have a valentine, but I find I gift myself better than they ever did. I can't eat chocolate. :( I know from contacting Hershey's that they use latex gloves in the manufacturing plant. I'm learning from others that most chocolate makers use latex gloves.

St. Patrick's Day- a super day for an Irish lass. I always went out to celebrate! I'd dress in funky green clothes & take along my green food coloring for my beer. One year, I even went to South Hadley, Mass. They paint the center line green. The parade is 4 miles long. There is more everything in that parade than Macy's Thankgiving Day Parade. Every once in a while you go into the bar to refresh your drink, & warm up if need be. The whole parade route is a party, long after the parade has finished. The 2 very Irish bars that I would go to use latex gloves. The one right around the corner always has balloons. Now I just stay home & cook corned beef & cabbage. This is a huge dissappointment for me. Last year, my big few minutes out was to Wal*Mart with my Irish cap.

Easter-no chocolate says quite a bit right there. I've heard from 2 friends who already know I'm stuck at home. No one else has called, not even my out of state family.

All summer holidays I'm better off here. I would be reacting to the rubber from all the road traffic & road construction. Besides which, many people are out on the canal & the pathway. My friends tend to migrate here as well.

Halloween-another big fave is now a nightmare for me with rubber in masks, grease paint, the decorations. I use to dress up when I lived in the trailer park, not wise. I worked out a costume with sheets to be a ghost, but it still didn't filter out the latex protiens. No children come by where I live now. I don't even decorate, too much rubber exposure.

Thanksgiving-everyone is going somewhere. I do cook a nice turkey.

Christmas-I am allergic to my artificial tree, but I still put it up. The day is a family day: that's where everyone else is.

After 13 1/2 years with this, the dissappointments seem to get worse instead of better. I just can't let it roll off my back.

Sal

Falling of the Plateau

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking my vehicle to the dealership, if you can call it that. The pleasure, I mean. The engine light was on. I couldn't fix it with oil, antifreeze, or transmission fluid. They plug your vehicle into the computer to find out what's wrong. That is an immediate charge of $89. Why? They don't have to spent 2 hours looking for the problem. Then they don't have the part, but they can get it. Also, along with the fee for the sensor, there is a list of things my vehicle needs that will total $2,000. I decide to just do the air sensor. It won't take too long, so I decide not to have them shuttle me home.

Alas, the trip starts going downhill fast. They are inflating gigantic balloons near the waiting room. I try to wait outside, as I have done before, but the temperature is 32o. It won't hit 50o for a couple of hours. I spend my time in the service area next to the pile of tires, no chair to sit on, but I can lean against the wall a lot while I read. also, for my enjoyment, it's all windowed so I get "free" entertainment watching all the mechanics working in their bays. I can't figure out whose working on my van, but the guy in the next bay is snapping his latex gloves on & off . My hood is open. The airborn rubber protiens have become hitchhikers on my engine. I end up spending 4 hours there because the part was only available at the furthest dealership.

The hives are popping up in my mouth, and my driving is poorly focused as i drive home. I'm having a reaction. Of course. I can't stay much longer than 15 minutes in any public place. i'm usually homebound for 2 days with a reaction and stoned on benadryl, even tho' I know it can take 3 days to recover. Well the 3rd day, I was still in the reaction. The 4th day I had to cancel an important fun day for me. (Latex Allergy allows me about 3 of those a year and not necessarily the ones most important to me.) The 6th day I get some groceries. I'm still reactive or I'm rebounding. After 7 days stoned on benadryl, not getting out of the reaction, I am frustrated with my whole life and what I can't do. On the 8th day I hold the benadryl and get into the doctor's office for a script for prednisone.

I haven't mentioned all the anger, frustration, feeling like crap, and the revelations about what I can no longer do that have gone through my mind this past week. I do know in my heart that this disease is progressive. There is no textbook about NRLA, just those of us who have it.

Sal

Balloons!!!!

I held off for 2 weeks to take my vehicle to the dealership for my free oil change and inspection because of all the latex balloons tied to the new and used cars for sale in the lot. I gave myself a good pat on the back for watching out for that.

I drove into the dealership yesterday and all the balloons were on the pavement with most of them totally deflated. I just patted myself on the back again. I was doing a great job keeping myself safe from all those latex proteins. After all these years, I can stay on top of exposures.

I checked in with a new person working in the service department. He had no idea about latex allergy, but my account stated no latex gloves. I told him I was waiting for my vehicle.

While walking past the parts department & cashier with the half wall exposing the mechanics bays, I noticed new rubber floor runners. I almost made it to the waiting room when I saw all the latex balloons waiting to be tied to the vehicles for sale. They had been blown up, were up at the ceiling, and had their ribbons, or whatever, hanging from them to attch them to the vehicles.

Oops, time to go outside for an hour or so waiting for my vehicle and pray that I wouldn't have a reaction. I did try to accomplish a couple of errands after that. My mistake, I'm now homebound on benadryl again.

Life is truely a challenging experience with natural rubber latex allergy.

Sal