You know how I often say life with a chronic illness every day can change and a new symptom can show up out of nowhere? Well I have learned a lot this week and I have some new symptoms that will hopefully go away.

So I used to just have seasonal allergies from about April-July(ish) then after I got sick I got allergies year round and every spring my allergies get a bit worse but usually I can just manage with mints, essential oils in the diffuser, Vicks vapor rub, and a humidifier. Well this year things got different and fast. One day last week my throat started burning and itching and my mouth, neck, tongue, throat started swelling up so I took some children’s Benadryl and Advil that day (the liquid works a lot faster and is more effective for me). Anyways after it was going on for 3 days I contacted my family doctor asking if this is normal or what I should be doing. They suggested for me to take my allergy medication 3x a time and continue the Benadryl and Advil until my symptoms settled down. A week later (today) everything is still happening and as of yesterday I have random hives on my legs and chest and arms. I was hoping to get off the Advil and Benadryl because I am supposed to be really careful with Advil. I tried going 6 hours instead of every 4 but I was getting swollen and my eyes burned and itched and throat was beginning to swell. I thought these were just due to pollen and the trees blooming but I am still dealing with these symptoms.

I am going to contact my doctor again to just check in. I really hope this isn’t becoming a new symptom or a diagnosis of something. I am hoping this won’t become a chronic/ par of the course type of thing.

This week I have had to laugh because I was either going to laugh or cry and so I just had to laugh. Last Tuesday after getting referred to musculoskeletal specialist for this continued ankle sprain/bruising since end of February. We got some x-rays done and it doesn’t appear to be broken (YAY) but she said I have a very severe ankle sprain so she upgraded me to a fancy new brace (lol) and some Physical Therapy was ordered. I was nervous but you guys this doctor was amazing I really almost cried with tears of joy. She READ MY RECORDS BEFORE let me repeat BEFORE she came in the room. She was so nice and she was like this ankle sprain isn’t why you’re in the wheelchair, correct. So we briefly explained and I was just getting ready to say my doctors say its auto-immune and that something else is going on. She said something a long the lines of yeah I was going to make sure you knew this was definitely more than POTS + Fibromyalgia. I almost hugged her, for a doctor to understand and admit right off the bat, it is nearly unheard of at least in my experience. Then she said we were going to do P.T. but you know what before I even asked any questions she told me we aren’t doing this for your whole body I have seen in your records that it didn’t work and was not recommended. She said we are just doing P.T. for your ankle. THEN (I know another amazing thing) she said bring your walker as well because since it is your ankle you will do a bit of walking but please sit down right away and tell the therapist as soon as your pots or joints get bad to stop. She said she would talk to the therapist before hand THEN she said if it isn’t working or it’s making you worse obviously we don’t want that, so she told me to call her if there are any problems or concerns with P.T. After that appointment I truly felt like I had just walked into another world. I was a bit nervous going into the appointment because I didn’t want it to be another one of “those” appointments. I am glad to say she became one of my favorites quickly. I was so impressed with all the knowledge and how kind she was and that she listened and validated my questions and concerns. I start my 1st session/evaluation Friday for P.T. if you could send good vibes I would appreciate that!

So in the midst of some new things happening there was a lot of good in it. Doctors who care and listen and truly are committed to helping me.

“Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9