What $159 of Eyedrops Looks Like

Speaking of the allergist, I took a prescription he made for Pataday eye drops to CVS and when they rang it up, they said I owed $50. I was all “$50!??!?! WTF!??!” and they said that insurance covered $59 and I had to pay $50. Wow. For 2.5 milliliters. To put this in persepctive, there are almost 5 milliliters in a teaspoon.. so that’s like $159 for a half of a teaspoon. I don’t know if I’ll be refilling this prescription very often.

Off to the Allergist

Dallas and I have tossed around getting a dog for a few years. It never seemed like the right time and then when it was, when we owned our condo and didn’t have any trips planned for a while, we decided not to. And then I got the urge again and then we were planning the wedding and after that was finally maybe the right time again. But I’d been noticing that Dallas would get an itchy face when visiting the houses of some of our friends who have dogs. Also, since coming back from Hawaii he was snoring like crazy! So, I asked him to go to the allergist for both of these reasons. Since I hadn’t seen an allergist for years, I went too.

On a recommendation from Kristin, we went to see Dr. Anne Ditto at Northwestern. We actually both went on the same day with our appointments spaced just a half hour apart. Northwestern is a teaching hospital, so we actually saw different student doctors with Dr. Ditto overseeing.

After our allergy tests we found out that I am allergic to mold and Dallas is allergic to tree pollens and that we are both allergic to dogs, cats, ragweed and dust mites. So… there go our thoughts of getting a dog! The doctors said we could get one anyway and see what happens and do treatment, but my allergies to cats when they lived with me was so severe, they did not recommend it. When I had two cats I would wake up not able to breath and had to have an inhaler for allergy-induced asthma. Not fun times!

Anyway, we got updated prescriptions and advice on how to deal with seasonal things. We’ve put covers on our pillows and mattress to help guard against dust mites. Oh. Also? All that snoring? Dallas had a sinus infection! So he got antibiotics for that too.

We both have follow up appointments scheduled.. hopefully we’re on the road to feeling better this allergy season!

At the Allergist

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Allergy Test, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

I gave the allergist that Ray recommended a try yesterday. He was pretty cool. I went in told him what the deal was (ragweed season is upon us), he gave me 26 quick pokes to confirm, let it sit for 10 – 15 minutes*, wrote me 3 prescriptions and I was outta there. I was trying to be proactive. My allergy symptoms haven’t been too bad, but yesterday, MAN! Maybe it was because I was pricked with everything, but I was sneezing like crazy and blowing my nose. My eyes hurt and were so itchy. This morning I woke up with crusty eye boogers. YUM! Can’t wait to pick those prescriptions up today!

* This photo was taken after only a couple minutes. Most of the dots were tree pollen and didn’t do anything, but the two that were types of ragweed and the one that was cats got really huge and red and itched like crazy. They stayed that way until late into the afternoon yesterday, grossing everyone out at work.

Our Insurance is Total Crap

“CRAP CRAP CRAP,” I say. I say “crap” because my mom reads this and probably wouldn’t like it if I said “Our insurance is total fucking bullshit”, which it is. Last month I went to the dentist and found out afterwards that I didn’t have dental insurance. So sorry, it was terminated due to a technical error last December and nobody told me. Today I went to the allergist and found out that I have a balance of $130. A deductible that didn’t exist last year, with the same doctor and the same insurance, that has to be met before insurance will pay. Not to mention that we pay $10 copay for every office visit and he has me going to see him every month. Also, $20 for a generic prescription and $30 for a brand name? Are you fucking kidding me? I get 3 prescriptions filled every month! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! (I’m posting this as an alternative to screaming at the top of my lungs and freaking my neighbors out right now!!!!!!)

Unexpected Torture at the Allergist

In my mind, my trip to my new allergist would entail me telling him my symptoms and showing him my records from my old allergist and then him writing me out some new prescriptions and sending me on my merry way. Instead, he decided to torture me for 1 1/2 hours with a scalpley type instrument and a bonanza of my favorite allergens. #1 reaction: cats. No surprise. I have a big red blotch on my back that’s bleeding from that one. Yum. #2: ragweed. And ragweed season isn’t until the end of the summer. I’m looking forward to it. There is no ragweed in CA, so I’m unsure how I’ll react. He’s having me come back in 2 months when my friend ragweed makes his appearance.