”Life-Saving Needle” Should be an Oxymoron

Hello, Gang.
It’s extremely A.M. right now, but I’m awake writing to you because I have THREE Mayo Clinic appointments today—just a few hours from now, in fact—and at least one of them will involve multiple needles, and the joyful anticipation of possible anaphylactic shock. Yeah.

I hate needles. I hate allergens, and the allergic reactions my body insists on having in response to them. I hate the fact that, as one of my doctors put it, I seem to have run a continuous, low-grade sinus infection for roughly the past 15-20 years. I hate waking up in the middle of the night, suddenly unable to breathe, discovering my sinus passages have stuffed up to the point of closing entirely just because my body got distracted by the house needing a good dusting, or some b.s. like that. Who knows what sets it off; if even my body itself knows, it’s keeping its secrets firmly out of my grip, and even more frustratingly, out of the grip of my medical team, thus far.

The business end of the C-PAP machine,
from MY vantage point

Well, the Mayo Clinic is nothing if not proactive. Furthermore, they’ve explained very clearly that their surgeons will not agree to perform bariatric surgery on me until they’re certain that several post-operative days spent lying flat on my back in recovery won’t quietly suffocate me to death. Thus, we went through a full sleep study last week, at which point I came home with a C-PAP machine, and tomorrow, we’ll be doing a CT scan of my sinus cavities, a consult with an allergist—to decide if I need a further referral to an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist—and an Allergy SCRATCH TEST. Do you know HOW they “scratch” you during these tests? With needles. Do you know WHY they do so? To introduce allergens directly and just watch how you skin reacts. Do you know WHAT CAN HAPPEN if your body overreacts to these scratches? Anaphylactic shock! And do you know how they SAVE you from that life-threatening overreaction? WITH A NEEDLE!!! Filled with Epinephrine, which by itself can kill if it’s administered at any time except when saving your life!

There is SO much insanity contained just in that paragraph-long description of what these people are about to do to me!!! Everything about this test is behavior which, in any other circumstances, could get someone hospitalized against their will with a diagnosis of mental collapse! As I’ve said here before, I’m terrified to have this done to me, Guys. I think the majority of the world’s medical research funding should be redirected toward finding ways to test for and treat illnesses that DON’T involve actions considered irrational at any other time. After a lifetime of chronic illness either in family members or myself, I’m fed up with cures that are more deadly than the disease.

UPDATE (same day, 08:50):
Ah, the joys of red tape and complications! In the mad rush to get my skin test scheduled yesterday, they forgot that I have to be OFF ALL ANTIHISTAMINES FOR 5 DAYS before I take this test. Folks, I take Benadryl 4 TIMES A DAY to help manage the chronic, debilitating nausea with which I live. We’ve rescheduled the skin test and following consult to January 6, so just the CT scan for today, but those last 5 days before the skin test are shaping up to be an absolute nightmare.