Allergies

I was out surfing the web and was checking out my brother's Flickr account to see if he had any new pictures up (him and his wife compete in a Farkography club thingy). As I was scrolling through, I noticed he'd posted his allergy results several months back. There were several comments so I got nosey. *laffz* His response to one was priceless.... Lemme back up a little though and let you in on what's been going on this week allergywise.....


It's been a little over two weeks now. I hadnt heard anything from the dr's office in regards to my allergy shots yet so Tuesday I dropped an email to my PCP office and asked after them:

Sent: 7/8/2008 12:44 AM
To: Office of
Subject: General Question

Good Morning! Dr McNally was supposed to write an order for allergy shots for me. She said that it would be two weeks and the dr's office would be calling me so I could set up appointments to get my shots done. I'm dropping this email to see what the status is on it.
Best Regards,

That morning when I woke up, I found this in my email inbox through the medical site:

From:
Office of
Received: 7/8/08 8:33 AM

I am pretty certain that you can send a message to Dr. M******, as well as to your primary care doctor. Dr. K*** is away this week. If you cannot get a message off to allergy department, let us know.

RN Manassas Medical Center


(names removed for privacy)

Ummm excuse me? I had been in contact with my allergist 2 weeks prior and she said she'd write it for the Manassas clinic because they were closer. Hmm. SO I shoot off this message to the allergist's office:


To:
MD
Sent:
7/8/08 1:26 PM

I dropped a note last night to the dr's office asking about the allergy shots to see if they came in yet (it's been a touch over 2 weeks). Is there anyway you could chase this one down as this is the response I got from them:

At which point I copy and pasted the response into the email for her to review. I waited all of Wednesday and all of Thursday for a response. Now, mind you, I do realize I could have called and gotten an answer faster; BUT knowing how busy those offices can get AND the fact that I seem to have the knack of calling at all the wrong times and getting an answering machine...well it's just easier to pop a note over. It also is a way to make sure everyone is on the same page and that I understand completely what is being discussed. Anyhow, by Friday I figured I'd have a response because maybe they were having trouble chasing down why the dr's office didnt seem to know anything about it or maybe it wass just getting finished up and transferred over or whatever. By 230pm or so on Friday, I gave up hearing from them and shut down the puter for a bit. Friday evening, hubby comes home and brings in the mail. There's a snail mail from the allergist's office. HUH? I was told to expect a CALL from the nurse at my PCP??!!? I fired up the computer and wouldnt ya know, there's an email from the allergist's office from the doctor covering for her. It basically says the same as the snail mail:

RE: General Question
To:
From:
Office of MD
Received:
7/11/08 3:23 PM

Ms. B,

I am covering for Dr. M who is away until July 14th. I have checked, and your allergy extract is now here at Springfield. You can call us at 703-***-**** anytime to make your 1st allergy shot appt.

Dr.V,MD

Mmhmm. Do they not check the notes on file and prior communications beforehand?

So I wrote back:

To:
MD
From:
Sent:
7/11/08 7:43 PM

Dr V,

Thank you for your response. I got the memo in the mail today as well. However, according to the communications I was having with Dr M in mid-June, I was under the impression she was going to have them sent to the Manassas Medical Center where my PCP is located. Here is the email conversation we were having in regards to this:

I copy and pasted the last few communications she and I had had regarding the shots. With any luck I should hear first thing tomorrow about this. I'd like to start getting my shots out of the way to be honest. I was hoping to have more than a couple under my belt before my trip...

So basically now I need a really good laugh. Those of you who have said that I'm quick thinking and at times quite funny in what I say...well Im nothing compared to my brother. So Im reading the comments on his results (he's allergic to just about everything) when this question comes up from one of his friends:

How the fuck does an allergy to cockroaches work? Do they have dander? On another note, sorry to see that you're so uncomfortable! Must suck! :(

Here Im thinking...good question! How DOES that type of allergy work? Subconciously, Im sure we all know the answer to this question and just dont exactly want to face the answer to it. However, my darling brother had this to say (warning, his language is a tad crass):


Meh, allergies suck, but its not that I feel uncomfortable per se -- I've always had some level of congestion, for me its "normal". Go fig.
There's a LOT of very disturbing things all wrapped up in that one line.
First, you're right, how DOES that work? I'm thinking dander, but... *shrug*
Second, this is a common enough problem that they actually TEST for it? Who the fuck is allergic is to cockroaches?
Third, how the sam hill did they ever figure out someone was allergic to cockroaches in the first place? Did someone walk into Doc Brown's office one day with a pet cockroach in tow on a leash, saying "every time I play with Fluffy here, I start sneezing."
Fourth, just how do they develop the allergy test for it? Do they have a roach in the back room somewhere? Are they milking it some how? Or worse, do they have peeing in one of those little dixie cups?
Last... in order to find out I was allergic to them, what the fuck did they inject me with? Am I walking around with a microdose of roach piss in my skin? Is that the bump on my arm that hasn't gone down? And why do I have this insatiable urge to hang out in the kitchen and eat bread crumbs all night now?

As you can see...Im not the only one that's quick thinkin...

So, anyhow....I got curious, looked it up and it's as bad as I feared it to be:


Q.
What causes the allergic reaction?
A.
The job of immune system cells is to find foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria and get rid of them. Normally, this response protects us from dangerous diseases. People with allergies have supersensitive immune systems that react when they inhale, swallow or touch certain harmless substances such as pollen or cockroaches. These substances are the allergens.
Cockroach allergen is believed to derive from feces, saliva and the bodies of these insects......


Excerpt from : Cockroach Allergy

Thankfully, since my allergy to them is so negligible that it barely registers and isnt worth having to treat, I can look forward to my serum shots to be cockroach secretion free.



Edit: 11:51pm: ~grinz~ Couldnt get this image outta my head so I just *HAD* to create and add this pic.....