New beginnings

We had a nice, quiet New Year celebration.

The weather was really cold for Oklahoma, so we stayed in pretty much the whole weekend of the holiday.

The past week has been pretty low-key.  A nice start to a new year.  The weather actually warmed up enough for me to get out and take a walk on Friday during my afternoon break.

It's finally raining today, and warm enough that it won't turn to ice.  We really need the moisture!

My biggest news is that, with the cold snap killing off outdoor allergens, I decided to take a break from the allergy medication I have been taking pretty much steadily for a couple of years.

I have taken over the counter allergy medication since it became available after I moved to Oklahoma.  It seemed that I was allergic to everything down here.

I periodically have taken breaks from it, but had not for a long while, because we never really got a deep freeze last winter.

Anyway, I took my last one on Thursday before New Year, in anticipation of record breaking cold weather.

The next day passed, and the day after that, I noticed that the mouth sore I had been dealing with all month ....  vanished.  It didn't just get better, it was GONE.

Hmm.  That was very interesting, so I did a little research on line, and SURE ENOUGH, zyrtec can cause canker sores.

ALL THIS TIME, and we thought it was the chemo pill.

Over a week later, and I am still free from sores.... after something like 10 months of almost constantly having at least one, sometimes, as many as five!

I look forward to discussing this with my oncologist next week! 

I suffered for almost a year with painful, annoying, diet-limiting mouth sores...and it was the stupid zyrtec!!!

(Or possibly a combination of the zyrtec and one of the anti cancer therapies I am on)

The other plus is that I have zero allergy symptoms!

This all has made me VERY happy!!

When spring time allergy season comes, maybe I will go to an allergist and get a specified remedy, instead of self medicating.  We'll see if it's a covered benefit of our insurance.  Dave could probably use it, too!

Dave has gone to take his weekly trip to Pop's, and I am doing laundry, and am actually going to finally get out the coloring book that someone sent to me anonymously for my birthday.

I will make a batch of chili later.  It will be a low key, relaxing day.