Cousin Willie is off his meds again

I've always imagined* that it isn't Mother Nature who controls the weather but rather her nephew, Willie. Which for our purposes makes him Cousin Willy. Mother Nature has a lot of stuff to worry about, what with global warming and the ozone layer, so it makes sense that she would delegate the more routine aspects of her job off to family members. Mother's sister Bertha was always complaining about how Willie needed something to occupy his time -- other than Facebook -- so she asked Mother to help out. Mother decided Willie could handle the weather (plus she's a fan of alliteration; Bertha handles, among other things, bunnies, bacteria, and the biosphere) so now Cousin Willie works the weather. But today, at least here in CilleyLand, Willie must be off his meds because our weather is extremely schizophrenic. We've had rain, clouds, sun, downpours, and every mix of those you can think of. And it's only 3:00 p.m.

I haven't been around much because I've been trying to get healthy. Already this year I've had two serious colds, the first of which resulted in not only a sinus infection like all the others but also my doctor saying she was sick of seeing me (I've had at least six courses of antibiotics in the past year) and consequently she sent me off to an allergist. Who put me on prednisone. Which suppresses your immune system. So I promptly got sick. Again. And ended up back at the allergist. Who put me on prednisone. I told him I'm starting to get wise to his racket.

Seriously, though, prednisone also reduces inflammation, which is why I'm on it to get my sinuses better, at which time we will then work to keep them that way. I got to get one of those allergy scratch tests on my arm, where they stick you with 40 different types of common allergens and then see if you have an allergic reaction. It was actually pretty interesting, once I got over the squeeee factor of having dust mites and mold and mildew stuck into my arm.

The test confirmed pretty much what I already knew, which is that I'm allergic to a few trees, some grasses, dust mites, molds and mildews, and cats. Very, very allergic to cats, as it turns out; other than the histamine control stick (that one is supposed to swell up), the cat spot swelled up the most out of everything. So although I miss my kitty very much, it's probably better that I no longer have cats for the first time in my life. This was emphasized the other night when I forgot about my cat allergy for the minute it took me to sit down and pet my friend's cat.

Turns out I'm not allergic to dogs, which made my two dogs happy. I do wonder if living with two dogs could have skewed the test somewhat, as in constant exposure resulted in no reaction. When I had the test, my cat had been gone about six months so that was mostly out of my system by then (I still need to do some severe cleaning under my bed).

I was also playing on a kickball league earlier in the year, and still bowling. I'm taking the spring season and maybe the summer season off from Underdog, however, since in an effort to combat my rampant insomnia I took up running. Or rather I took up working up towards running. I just started tai chi and belly dancing will start next week.

The exercise also ties into my health. The insomnia is a side effect of my sinus problems. The sinus problems lead to frequent colds. The colds lead to sinus infections. Lather, rinse repeat. I'm sick of being sick. I also have been having problems with my left eye, so I have to see a neuro-opthamalogist in a couple of months. You know, to see if I have a brain tumor. I'm hoping it's all another side effect of my sinus infections and that that will resolve itself.

All of this (except for Cousin Willie) has to do with the goals I set for the new year. One of them is to run a 5K by the end of summer. I've already done two 5Ks and one 5-mile race this year, with at least three more 5Ks scheduled this month. Another goal was to step more outside my comfort zone; hence the kickball and the tai chi and the belly dancing.

I also want to be more creative this year. Hey, maybe Cousin Willie does qualify! One way I anticipated doing that was to blog more, or at least more regularly. I also need to take up my needlepointing again so I can finish her quilt before my niece is in her teens.

I'll have to formally post my goals here (I just found them the other day) so I know where I am and where I'm going. A nice side effect of all of this has been I'm making new friends. Two of them have started running with me, and it has been great getting to know them better. I'm also a lot happier. Which helps to make friends and to not be sick.

Yours in health,
the CilleyGirl


*Technically I haven't always imagined, since I came up with this about two hours ago. But I'm adopting it into my belief system from this point forward.