Thursday, May 24, 2012
Ruh ROh
For the sake of diplomacy, I am currently writing a nice thank you letter to someone who I have spent a while not liking. (Okay and some obligatory gratitude in there, too). I've found my fingers turn feel wobbly and hesitant with each letter that I type. Perhaps this is my soul's way of reprimanding me for internal treason?
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
i hatchu, allergies.
Went to sleep over an hour ago, except I didn't end up sleeping because of I can't breathe through my frigginstuffynose.
Allergies this spring and last have been my worst ever. In the beginning of the season, my symptoms were limited to constant sneezing. Yeah, it was annoying but it didn't quite suck. Within a few weeks my eyes started watering at random times during the day to the extent where co-workers actually asked me if I was okay. Then came a period where I got a cold that made my throat feel scratchy. I was actually excited. Because finally the day had come when my ENT irritation could be ascribed to an actually illness, not my STUPID immune system that can't tell the difference between plant sperm and actual germs. Until it dawned on me that I was wrong, I was not sick because other than my sore throat my body didn't feel sick. Ugh. The truth. The enemy, my allergies, had in fact leveled up and augmented the sore throat tool into its inventory.
From March til date, my allergies worsened severely. Entry level sneezes of week 1 seemed like innocuous kitten play compared to the my April Thor-like sneezes. Once May hit, ruh roh. Like a pokemon that was handed a nice heaping serving of rare candy, the allergy beast had acquired an orchestra of tools to tamper with the quality of my daily life. Every single day I'd face a combination of some nasty sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, a sore throat throat, and my final arch-nemeis: nasal congestion.
I'd like to expand the last one a little bit. If you are so lucky to have never faced chronic congestion, imagine stuffing a marshmallow up your nose then inflating it 10x its original volume. You cannot breathe, and therefore you cannot sleep unless you want to die. The only way you can get it out is to go for a run, squirt some wasabi up your nostril, or try and blow it out. Now imagine this marshmallow lurks in your bedroom and follows you to sleep, waiting for the exact moment when it knows you will go to bed. THEN, THE DEMON POUNCES. JETPACKS STRAIGHT UP YOUR NASAL CANAL. FOR MINUTES YOU FIGHT IT. YOU TURN YOUR HEAD SO THE STUFFY NOSTRIL IS FACING UPWARDS, HOPING GRAVITY WILL WEIGH THE STUFFYNESS DOWN OR AT LEAST REDISTRIBUTE THE STUFFYNESS BETWEEN BOTH NOSTRILS SO YOU HAVE SOME BREATHING ROOM TO WORK WITH. IT FAILS! BOTH NOSTRILS ARE CLOGGED NOW AND SO YOU GET UP. IT IS TOO LATE TO RUN SO YOU DO PUSHUPS ON THE FLOOR TO RECIRCULATE THE BLOOD FROM YOUR NOSE TO YOUR MUSCLES. And for a brief moment, there is calm. You sit up and bask in that brief moment reverie. When you think the coast is clear and you have defeated the marshmallow, you crawl up to your bed again and lull yourself to a well earned sleep. Some nights you are successful. Some nights the marshmallow comes back even stronger and more powerful and you must duel again.
This is the battle I face every night. No allergy medicine has vanquished my stuffy nose- EVER. I have tried a buffet of medications: Claratin, Clarinex, Singulair, Zyrtec, Nasonex, etc. Some brands I don't even remember the name of. I even tried a three hit combo one day: nasal spray, eyedrops, and oral medication with little or no avail. As the hour approches 1:30, my hands are beginning to feel a little carpel tunnel-y because I'm lying in bed now typing in the textbook case of anti-ergonomic fashion. My stuffy nose has deflated...temporarily. I will take this opportune to jump in on the potential for some shut eye and end this post with some final words:
Allergies, I hatchu.
From March til date, my allergies worsened severely. Entry level sneezes of week 1 seemed like innocuous kitten play compared to the my April Thor-like sneezes. Once May hit, ruh roh. Like a pokemon that was handed a nice heaping serving of rare candy, the allergy beast had acquired an orchestra of tools to tamper with the quality of my daily life. Every single day I'd face a combination of some nasty sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, a sore throat throat, and my final arch-nemeis: nasal congestion.
I'd like to expand the last one a little bit. If you are so lucky to have never faced chronic congestion, imagine stuffing a marshmallow up your nose then inflating it 10x its original volume. You cannot breathe, and therefore you cannot sleep unless you want to die. The only way you can get it out is to go for a run, squirt some wasabi up your nostril, or try and blow it out. Now imagine this marshmallow lurks in your bedroom and follows you to sleep, waiting for the exact moment when it knows you will go to bed. THEN, THE DEMON POUNCES. JETPACKS STRAIGHT UP YOUR NASAL CANAL. FOR MINUTES YOU FIGHT IT. YOU TURN YOUR HEAD SO THE STUFFY NOSTRIL IS FACING UPWARDS, HOPING GRAVITY WILL WEIGH THE STUFFYNESS DOWN OR AT LEAST REDISTRIBUTE THE STUFFYNESS BETWEEN BOTH NOSTRILS SO YOU HAVE SOME BREATHING ROOM TO WORK WITH. IT FAILS! BOTH NOSTRILS ARE CLOGGED NOW AND SO YOU GET UP. IT IS TOO LATE TO RUN SO YOU DO PUSHUPS ON THE FLOOR TO RECIRCULATE THE BLOOD FROM YOUR NOSE TO YOUR MUSCLES. And for a brief moment, there is calm. You sit up and bask in that brief moment reverie. When you think the coast is clear and you have defeated the marshmallow, you crawl up to your bed again and lull yourself to a well earned sleep. Some nights you are successful. Some nights the marshmallow comes back even stronger and more powerful and you must duel again.
This is the battle I face every night. No allergy medicine has vanquished my stuffy nose- EVER. I have tried a buffet of medications: Claratin, Clarinex, Singulair, Zyrtec, Nasonex, etc. Some brands I don't even remember the name of. I even tried a three hit combo one day: nasal spray, eyedrops, and oral medication with little or no avail. As the hour approches 1:30, my hands are beginning to feel a little carpel tunnel-y because I'm lying in bed now typing in the textbook case of anti-ergonomic fashion. My stuffy nose has deflated...temporarily. I will take this opportune to jump in on the potential for some shut eye and end this post with some final words:
Allergies, I hatchu.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
"Dear Students,
Orientation for first-year medical students begins on Monday, August 13, 2012. We have an exciting week of events planned to acclimate you to the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Additionally, please mark your calendars for the White Coat Ceremony, which will be held on Friday, August 17, 2012 "
I'm not one to make post memes normally, but...
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