Dear Allergy Shot Lady,

You have changed my life.

Not just the part once a week where you pinch my arm and stab me with a needle (or two) filled with the things that make me itch the most, but every part.

You have changed the way I SLEEP. I don’t have to lean my head back in hopes I won’t wake up in the middle of the night grasping for a tissue. In the morning, my mouth is no longer comparable to the Sahara.

You have changed the way I DRINK. It used to feel like drowning. Like the water couldn’t figure out whether to go up my throat or down it. Every gulp was a decision to trade a moment of being able to breathe in order to quench my thirst. Sometimes it wasn’t worth the trade.

You have changed the way I EAT. Leaving the table to do jumping jacks in the bathroom so that I can come back and maybe, just maybe, be able to taste the food on my plate for one minute before my nasal passages shut is now a the thing of a past.

I can enjoy a flight of beer with my dad and make comments on the taste rather than the color.

I can smell EVERYTHING. Who knew I’d be so happy to know why the person in the stall next to me is refusing to make a sound until everyone else exits the bathroom?

I drink so much water.

I roll from my side to my stomach in bed. Worry-free.

I don’t sound (as) funny when I speak.

I don’t secretly crave a close-call when I’m driving so that the rush of adrenaline will clear my airways.

Did I mention I don’t have to do jumping jacks in the bathroom anymore?!

I will never take another breath for granted.

And I will see you next week.

Sincerely,

Ex-Mouth Breather