Once upon a time I graduated from my MFA program, had my mom staying in my apartment, had a wedding dress made, drove to Las Vegas with Alex (and my mom), got married, drove back from Las Vegas with Alex (and my mom), went on a honeymoon (without my mom) and got the job offer of my dreams all within a three week span. As you can imagine, all of this was quite stressful, so in return for this generous helping of stress my body gave me the gift of hives. Chronic hives. 8 straight weeks of hives. My immune system was attacking an imaginary virus, which it apparently thought was all over my entire body. For two months I lived in itchy misery, sometimes my eyelids would swell up so much that I couldn't see. Other days I couldn't tie my shoes because my feet were abnormally large with hives. Eventually this came to an end, with the help of time and a little acupuncture. But my immune system warned me then, it would do anything for me, even if it meant it had to hurt me in the process of trying to protect me.
It seems, after consulting with my ENT for the third time, that almost 4 months ago my immune system took an offer it couldn't refuse. It took a hit out on virus in my right ear. Not only did my over enthusiastic antibodies kill the virus, they destroyed some nerves in my ear as well. Nerves which are irreplaceable and I was quite fond of; the ones for balancing and hearing. Most likely my body will compensate for the loss over time. How much time is the big question.
I think that today might be an appropriate time to have a little chat with my immune system and outline what kind of destruction is appropriate. I'll probably open with "Let's work smarter, not harder."
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3 comments:
When you were visiting, I didn't want to say anything at the time, but I thought I heard your immune system say, "Me no likey virus hurt Cor-Cor. Me kill virus. ME KILL VIRUS."
So I do think the enthuasism is definitely there.
I hope the chat works. Good luck.
-m
ok, it has occured to me that i may have inadvertantly cause your hearing loss from putting you through the stress of being in my wedding and having to hold my hand through 5 months of planning. i'm lucky that your immune system didn't kill me instead of your inner ear. maybe that's just because it doesn't reach across time zones though? in any case, i am truly sorry.....- lisa p
oh Liser, it's not your fault at all, so please don't think that. Unless you planted a virus in my ear, then I would have to warn you that I could send my immune system after you. It has chutzpah and it will travel...
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