Finally, the rains stopped. The sun and warmth have arrived as if responding to our calendars that it is now officially summer.
The warmth has also triggered an explosion of grass pollen that was otherwise kept under check by the cooler temperature and precipitation. The count jumped to way, way, way off the chart:
I have had to deal with grass pollen ever since I moved to Oregon.
My first spring in this state, I started sniffling in response to all the pollen. The season ended and the sniffling also did.
The second spring was worse. I suppose that my body had by then figured out that the grass pollen was one dangerous enemy and was all set to defend itself. But, I hadn't received that memo. So, there I was enjoying the river and the walk as I always did.
I sneezed. My nose was runny. I took an anti-allergy pill. Showered and ate. I was off to bed.
Slowly, the heaviness in my chest increased. It was as if somebody was systematically increasing the weight on my chest and squeezing it. My breathing produced a cacophony of wheezing sounds.
I sat up. It didn't work.
I sat in an incline. It didn't work.
I stood up and walked around. It didn't help.
I was off to the emergency room in the middle of the night.
Even as I waited for a doctor to examine me, I noticed that my breathing was becoming less difficult. The ER doctor explained that the highly filtered air that circulated in the hospital made it easy for my lungs. And then handed me an inhaler and showed me how to use it if I experienced such tightness again.
Over the years, I have become smarter and carefully scan reports of pollen levels. Like the chart above. When the levels are high, which often is also when the days are simply gorgeous, I have to restrain myself from being outside a lot. Such a controlled exposure to the pollen is infinitely better than the feeling of elephants walking on my chest. And I rarely ever use the inhaler.
During a sabbatical stay in India, I realized that I didn't have an inhaler with me. A moment of panic. My security blanket was not with me. What if I needed to use one to drive those elephants away when traveling to one of the smoggiest places in India--Delhi. My friend, a physician, handed me a brand new one. What an awesome gift that was! Thankfully, I did not use it even once during the three months.
My first spring in this state, I started sniffling in response to all the pollen. The season ended and the sniffling also did.
The second spring was worse. I suppose that my body had by then figured out that the grass pollen was one dangerous enemy and was all set to defend itself. But, I hadn't received that memo. So, there I was enjoying the river and the walk as I always did.
I sneezed. My nose was runny. I took an anti-allergy pill. Showered and ate. I was off to bed.
Slowly, the heaviness in my chest increased. It was as if somebody was systematically increasing the weight on my chest and squeezing it. My breathing produced a cacophony of wheezing sounds.
I sat up. It didn't work.
I sat in an incline. It didn't work.
I stood up and walked around. It didn't help.
I was off to the emergency room in the middle of the night.
Even as I waited for a doctor to examine me, I noticed that my breathing was becoming less difficult. The ER doctor explained that the highly filtered air that circulated in the hospital made it easy for my lungs. And then handed me an inhaler and showed me how to use it if I experienced such tightness again.
Over the years, I have become smarter and carefully scan reports of pollen levels. Like the chart above. When the levels are high, which often is also when the days are simply gorgeous, I have to restrain myself from being outside a lot. Such a controlled exposure to the pollen is infinitely better than the feeling of elephants walking on my chest. And I rarely ever use the inhaler.
During a sabbatical stay in India, I realized that I didn't have an inhaler with me. A moment of panic. My security blanket was not with me. What if I needed to use one to drive those elephants away when traveling to one of the smoggiest places in India--Delhi. My friend, a physician, handed me a brand new one. What an awesome gift that was! Thankfully, I did not use it even once during the three months.
Allergies are not new to me. (Most people find me to be allergic to their minds, but that calls for a different post!) At the 30th high school reunion, some of us allergy sufferers wondered if our systems had been weakened as a result of growing up in a mining/industrial town.
I suppose the body's response to allergens is different from how it reacts to living organisms that enter our bodies. When a virus enters the system, the body fights it, yes, but at the same time learns how to protect itself from future attacks. However, it appears that my system has not learnt how to deal with grass pollen.
Every day of our life is another day of victory over all kinds of attempts to kill us. It is a constant struggle to postpone that inevitable finality. The story of humans on this planet has been one of systematically fending off various ailments that routinely troubled people's lives in the past. Thanks to the accumulated wisdom over the centuries, we live long lives now, Such long lives that many countries are struggling to figure out how to take care of the aged, whose population is rapidly increasing all around the world.
As much as I complain about the grass pollen allergy, I am glad we live in a much better world now. Further, as Nietzsche said, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger!
I suppose the body's response to allergens is different from how it reacts to living organisms that enter our bodies. When a virus enters the system, the body fights it, yes, but at the same time learns how to protect itself from future attacks. However, it appears that my system has not learnt how to deal with grass pollen.
Every day of our life is another day of victory over all kinds of attempts to kill us. It is a constant struggle to postpone that inevitable finality. The story of humans on this planet has been one of systematically fending off various ailments that routinely troubled people's lives in the past. Thanks to the accumulated wisdom over the centuries, we live long lives now, Such long lives that many countries are struggling to figure out how to take care of the aged, whose population is rapidly increasing all around the world.
As much as I complain about the grass pollen allergy, I am glad we live in a much better world now. Further, as Nietzsche said, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger!
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| A view of the power station complex at Neyveli, 2002 |
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