Today was my first visit to the allergy doctor. The office was crazy busy. It was so packed with people getting their allergy shots that there were not enough seats for everyone to sit down. The office was an Ear, Nose, and Throat and also an Ankle and Foot office… weird combination.
We got there a little early and got to witness quite a scene of a family who was refusing to show any type of ID before they were seen by the doctor. The nurse handled the situation very well, and calmly tried to explain that she needed ID to prove that they were seeing the right patient and to be able to bill the insurance. The man and his wife got so upset and ended up insisting on paying cash so they didn’t have to show ID. They got so loud that everyone in the waiting room was watching to see what happened next. After several concerns about how the office would misuse his ID information, he finally signed some type of waiver and was seen after paying in cash. Just makes you wonder who he was trying to be or who he was hiding from??
Dr. Nofsinger was very thorough and listened through all of my symptoms. But I didn’t get very far before she stopped me to acknowledge how stuffy and congested my voice sounded. She told me that my allergies are probably much worse than I realize yet because I am so accustomed to it, and that I will have a huge difference one I begin treatment. She started writing me prescriptions like crazy. I think I got as many prescriptions today as I have in my life until now. They were all very inexpensive to fill… Yay!
The scary part of the appointment was when she used a needle-type tool with a camera on the end to make sure there wasn’t anything more than gunk problems causing my breathing blockages. I didn’t know Jesse was taking pictures of me with the needle all the way up my nose. That picture was a little too embarrassing, so instead the picture is of me trying to stay calm when she first picked up the needle thing. It really wasn’t that bad at all, but I still feel like the numbing stuff hasn’t fully worn off.
For the next week I’m on Cipro (antibiotic) to get rid of all of the gunk in my nose and chest, and Prednisone to take away the allergy symptoms so I can get to feeling better fast. She also gave me two types of inhalers for when my breathing is really irritated – one is a rescue inhaler and the other is a daily control steroid inhaler like Jesse takes. And there are more scripts waiting for me on Monday! I have to schedule to go for allergy testing to see if there is something specific bothering me. Long-term treatment will probably include allergy shots for a couple of years.
