I have so much in my life I am grateful for. From my loving and brainless birdies, especially my English budgie, to the fact that I have a job, no matter how craptastic it is (I have to work today), I know I am luckier than a lot of other folks.
But today, I have to say I'm most grateful for my mother-in-law.
Yes, that's possible. ;)
Mind you, it isn't always easy to be grateful to my mother-in-law. She usually sees the darkest side of everything, be it grocery shopping or "those Mexicans who keep cutting people off." (Sigh. Yes, Mexicans are the only bad drivers out there...sure they are...)
But she did something amazing for me. She got me an appointment with an allergist last Tuesday.
As you can tell from my screen name, I have a boatload of allergies. I also have been unlucky enough to have no health insurance. However, my mother-in-law is not only a pessimist. She has been a nurse all her life, and she is extraordinarily hardworking.
She was a nurse at an allergist's office, in fact. The allergist who saw me Tuesday. Who did ninety-six tests on me for foods.
The tests all came back negative, unfortunately, but the doctor said, calmly, "Well, foods are hard to test for. Pollen allergies show up 90% of the time, but the only real way to test foods is with tiny bits, slowly increasing the amount." My mother-in-law agreed. She has food allergies too, and she's seen a lot of allergy testing in her time.
So the upshot of all this is that after two years of working hard, developing new allergies, and feeling like I have no medical resources on my side...my mother-in-law after just one month got me access to a doctor and my first ever EpiPen, just in case.
Oh, and the doctor? He decided not to charge us at all for the visit or the testing. And he gave us free samples of pollen allergy medication as well.
Thank you, Nancy. Thank you, doctor. Thank you, my loving and supportive husband, who's cooking up an allergy-free storm for me today. And thank you, everyone who's shown great kindness and sympathy for my condition.
I hope you all have a blessed day, with many reminders of all that we have to be thankful for.