Thursday morning I had an echocardiogram. 

These have become fairly routine, every couple of years. My cardiologist seems to want me to have them for some reason.

The procedure takes about a half hour and I try to estimate how much time has gone by, and I’m always wrong. This time I had gotten to 18 minutes when the technician told me it was over and I could put my shirt back on.

Later that day I received a note on the web site that there was no significant difference since the last one. I mean I could have told them that. I didn’t feel any different or notice any of the symptoms that the cardiologist had warned me to look out for, so I thought the whole thing was a wasted effort. But whatever.

Later that morning I had the telehealth appointment with the allergist. It was fairly short. I described the symptoms I’ve been having for the past twelve or thirteen years with my sinuses; the runny nose, the coughing and sneezing, etc. I’ve been taking Allegra and using Azelastine nasal spray and they relieve the symptoms but don’t stop them entirely. I had my doubts that the problem was an allergy as the problem is worse in the winter time, especially in the very windy weather, etc., etc.

The allergist seemed to know his stuff, and he suggested a better way of using the Azelastine spray. Then he said he would order some blood tests and when the results came back, he would get back to me. It was about a fifteen minute session.

His blood test orders appeared in my chart shortly after that, and I realized I could get the blood work done at the same location where I had my echocardiogram earlier that day. I didn’t know if I needed an appointment. So I called to find out.

The woman on the phone was very pleasant but not very helpful. I explained that I wanted to get the blood work done at the Washington Square location. She said they had two Washington Square locations. So I said I wanted the Farm Journal Building. She didn’t know the Farm Journal Building from the Cow Barn. She had two Spruce Street addresses. But the Farm Journal Building’s address is on Manning Street, so that confused me even more. Eventually I thought we got it sorted out.

I asked if I needed an appointment. Not at the address that I took to mean the Farm Journal Building. Which floor were the blood tests on? On the first floor.

So when I went there the following morning and was told that the blood tests were on the second floor, I had a strong suspicion that I was in the wrong place. I was. I needed to go to the other location.

OK. I’m going to go over this quickly. The other location is the Pennsylvania Hospital. It is on Spruce Street. I would not consider it on Washington Square. The Farm Journal Building is on Washington Square and its address is on Manning Street. Why did that woman on the phone not know those simple little facts?!

Anyway, once I got to Pennsylvania Hospital, the Outpatient Labs were indeed on the first floor.

The intake woman went over my name and birthdate, and then she asked if Donna was still my emergency contact.

“Yes, she is,” I replied. “Do you think you’ll need to call her?” 

“No,” she laughed. “The computer prompted me to verify it.” 

I didn’t have long to wait before I was ushered into the lab, where an efficient technician took my blood.

“It’s amazing,” I said, “that you can get all that blood out of me without piercing my skin.” 

And I was out on the street within fifteen minutes of arrival.

Later that day the allergist sent me the results. As we both expected, I don’t have any allergies.

What I have is non-allergic rhinitis, a condition that afflicts people in their late youth. It doesn’t manifest until after age 20, although in my case it appeared a bit later than that.

In addition to the Azelastine, he’s prescribing another nasal spray to be used specifically when the runny nose gets worse due to the weather: Atrovent (Ipratroprium).

When I replied, I asked him if I should continue with the Allegra. I strongly suspect that the Allegra isn’t really doing much for me anymore. That’s because when I stopped it the other week, I didn’t notice too much difference. I think it’s the Azelastine nasal spray that’s doing most of the heavy lifting these days. 

He replied that as I have no allergies, the medical literature says that Allegra probably is not effective, so try stopping it and see what happens.

Here are the things that I was tested for and that I’m not allergic to.

AEROALLERGEN BLOOD PROFILE, 25 IGE, IMMUNOGLOBULIN E (IGE), TOTAL,

ALLERGEN, ALTERNARIA ALTERNATA, IGE,

ALLERGEN, WHITE ASH TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS, IGE,

ALLERGEN, AMERICAN BEECH TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, SILVER BIRCH TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, CAT DANDER, IGE,

ALLERGEN, CEPHALOSPORIUM / ACREMONIUM KILIENSE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, CLADOSPORIUM HERBARUM (HORMODENDRUM), IGE,

ALLERGEN, COMMON RAGWEED,IGE,

ALLERGEN, COTTONWOOD TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, DERMATOPHAGOIDES FARINAE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, DERMATOPHAGOIDES PTERONYSSINUS, IGE,

ALLERGEN, DOG DANDER, IGE,

ALLERGEN, ELM TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, EPICOCCUM PURPURASCENS, IGE,

ALLERGEN, GIANT RAGWEED, IGE,

ALLERGEN, HELMINTHSPORIUM HALODES, IGE,

ALLERGEN, BOX ELDER/MAPLE TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, OAK TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, ORCHARD GRASS COCKSFOOT, IGE,

ALLERGEN, PENICILLIUM NOTATUM, IGE,

ALLERGEN, HICKORY/PECAN TREE, IGE,

ALLERGEN, PERENNIAL RYE GRASS, IGE,

ALLERGEN, TIMOTHY GRASS, IGE,

ALLERGEN, SWEET VERNAL GRASS, IGE