anniversary

I had a realization yesterday: it had been a year since my diagnosis! a YEAR. i told my mom this and she said that it had been two years. This made us both laugh because it both feels like forever and just yesterday.

Mostly what I remember is that the allergy testing took a total of about five hours, after the hour spend deciding that allergy testing was the way to go. Basically, right side of my back=15 minutes. Left side=next 15 minutes. then right arm, then left, etc. Plus prep time. Then we left for lunch and had to come back because they had to read the "late" reactions in my arm after two hours had passed. What I'm getting at is that there is a distinctively memory from that day. Besides how miserable all the needle pricks were (and I don't even mind needles that much, but when you have anywhere approximately 100 in one day? Whole different ballgame!), there is a memory from lunch. I felt miserable, realizing that all these allergens were definitely the source of feeling miserable: nauseated, exhausted, and couldn't even garner up enough energy to pick a place for lunch. Finally we went to Chik-fil-a because I wanted a milkshake. Maybe they had their mint ones because it was still the holidays? Unknown, but I'm sure we're all aware of how much awesomeness a Chik-fil-a milkshake is. My mom got a real meal and I remember staring at the chicken and the bread just wondering. That feeling in the pit of my stomach as realization dawned...what CAN I eat? Can I eat in public, order safely in a restaurant? The repercussions of a diagnosis I hadn't been prepared for were hitting home and hitting home hard.

We also ventured out to the grocery store after returning home around 2pm after all the testing...lots of favorite foods were quickly dismissed. My mom had a bag of groceries waiting for me to take back to school, 90% of which was left behind. It led to the eventual discovery when I got back to my apartment at school that there were a grand total of 14 things in my entire pantry that I could eat.

Oh how my life has changed in the last year. It's truly amazing.

I went to dinner on Friday night (and then to see Les Miserables; everyone should see it, it's awesome!) and  my friend who had suggested that evening's event texted me back when I asked what restaurant she wanted to go to: anywhere you can eat. I really did LOL to that and was in an indulgent mood when later I explained that I picked Panera because I like it, but basically we can go anywhere I can get a salad. Because if nothing else, I can at least eat lettuce.

I know I can. It was checked on the allergy testing. :)