I need to hurry up and find a way to be a brilliant author and/or Mega Millions winner so I can have absolute control over my workspace.
What I'm mainly struggling with is how to make sure this doesn't happen again. I don't think I can get away with banning dairy from the workplace like people have been able to ban fragrances, but it's not right that I should have to put my health at risk because people eat it. I'm taking my test Epipen to work tomorrow for people to practice on, should something like that happen again, but it's not enough. I lost 10 hours of vacation time because people are too stupid to prepare their own lunches. Had I waited any longer to take my first Benadryl, I would have had no choice but to go to the ER. I have no idea what to do to keep this from happening again that doesn't alienate people or hinder their right to eat what they want.
It's not uncommon for me to have mild allergic reactions at work- I work with people who like to eat, and eat a lot.And eat everywhere. And are terrible at cleaning up after themselves. I'd say I get hives at least once a week from either something in the air or food that people don't clean off surfaces. It's never that bad, and I just go on with my itchy day.
This week, we had a crap ton of snow, again, and since the people I work with are too retarded to go "oh, it's going to snow a shit ton tomorrow, I should probably take a lunch since eating out won't be an option." EVERY. FUCKING. TIME. the company orders food for these idiots to eat. Every time, it's pizza. And every time, I have a mild allergic reaction. I don't eat the food.I don't touch the food. But my dairy allergy is severe enough that the smell (which is it's ickly little proteins floating in the air, and it's the ickle little proteins I'm allergic to) can cause a reaction. I have to take the long way to the veg section at Whole Foods because their open air cheese area has been known to make me develop hives in my throat. It's just crap- if I eat something knowingly, that's my own damn fault, but to not be able to be in a building because it sets my allergies off is just plain stupid.
So. Tuesday, they order pizza. I had a mild reaction (just hives on my arms) itchy, but meh. Wednesday, they order pizza again. And this time, I broke out in hives from my scalp to my feet. My eyes itched, my lips itched. Everywhere fucking itched. I thought about taking an antihistmine, but I didn't want to drive while doped, as Benadryl tends to make me sleep, and sleep hard.
Then my breathing got worse. I started to wheeze. My throat got tight and my chest became swollen (usually happens when I have a bad asthma attack) and then the hives in my mouth and throat turned up. Fucking. Party. I wheezed my way over to my boss and asked to leave, and he asked if someone should take me to the hospital instead.
Had I been thinking clearly, I would have just taken the antishistamine at the first fucking sign and had Anton come get me, but nooooo. I waited until 3 hours after the first little hive broke out, and narrowly avoided going to the hospital when it took the second Benadryl to get my breathing some what normal.
I spent most of my night itching and wheezing, and chugging on Throw Back Pepsi because Anton was too nervous to let me sleep. Using my handy Epi pen would have probably done the trick, but it would have meant hours at the ER and as I was already in a state of panic, spending time in a place people go to die was at the bottom of my list. I ran out of Benadryl last night, so early this morning Anton drove me to CVS and stocked up on it, along with Cortizone cream and Dramamine (aside from only working in four hour shifts, Benadryl makes me insanely nauseated and dizzy). I called out of work and slept most of the day.
I'm feeling mostly better now- my chest is still swollen and I'm still a bit itchy on my arms, but compared to yesterday, I'm fine.
What I'm mainly struggling with is how to make sure this doesn't happen again. I don't think I can get away with banning dairy from the workplace like people have been able to ban fragrances, but it's not right that I should have to put my health at risk because people eat it. I'm taking my test Epipen to work tomorrow for people to practice on, should something like that happen again, but it's not enough. I lost 10 hours of vacation time because people are too stupid to prepare their own lunches. Had I waited any longer to take my first Benadryl, I would have had no choice but to go to the ER. I have no idea what to do to keep this from happening again that doesn't alienate people or hinder their right to eat what they want.
