I have had intermittent allergy problems since I was a child. I knew that I was allergic to cats, dust, and feathers, since that’s what my parents told me, and I knew from experience with cats. I’ve never had an adverse reaction to Chris Leon‘s cat, however, and Darwin rubs all on me when I used to go over to Chris’ apartment, including my face. I had been considering getting a cat of my own, but I wanted to what I was still allergic, so I contacted Courtney‘s former allergist and a doctor I used to work with at Highland Clinic.
They stuck me in the back 62 times, did a pulmonary function test on me, and Dr. Washburne listened to my breathing from all around my body. It’s going to end up costing me a whole lot of money, since I have a high deductible, but I did get instant results: I’m allergic to everything… with the exception of like 5 or 6 things.
Obviously, my reactions to cat and dust mites were far higher than everything else, but I really am allergic to a lot of things, some more severe than others. Dr. Washburne said “You’re a very allergic person.” You can look at the results for yourself. The first number is the bump on my back and the second part is the redness. 34 is the max number and that means my dust mite reaction went outside the bounds it was given so they had to use “34+”.
Today, I realized that I haven’t replaced my air filter in a long time, and given my newly discovered severe dust mite allergy, I thought it might be a good idea to do so. I pulled away the couch from the intake and the entire metal vent cover was covered in dust. I vacuumed all of that off and then unlatched the metal. The filter was coated in dust and the vacuum pressure created by the air intake was so powerful that it ripped off a corner of the filter. So for some unknown period of time, the air in my house has been circulating sans filtration. I bought a bunch of ultra-super-duper-hypo-allergenic filters from Lowe’s today and install one. I’ll keep a better eye on that, especially since my fancy touchscreen thermostat has a “FILTER” warning that has been constantly flashing.
