Wow, so much has happened I can't believe it

So, I last wrote about going to the Grand Cypress to stay while I was presenting at a conference.

The presentations went well, I got practically the best scores of the conference.

But, I had a horrible time with the Hyatt Grand Cypress Hotel. To make a brutal story short, the room had bedbugs, I am allergic to bedbugs (I've never seen one so i had no way of knowing), the hotel did nothing about it, and wouldn't move me even when I said it made me sick. I had to go to the conference staff and make a stink in order to fix it-- and by then it was too late. the whole time, I suspect, the cleaning staff knew that it was bedbugs, but didn't do anything about it (bedbugs have a distinctive smell, one I complained about but didn't recognize because I thought bedbugs were a myth). I never realized that my swollen eyes, throat and bloody nose, not to mention the "hives"I had all over my legs and on my arm were from bugs. I couldn't imagine that they were bites.

By the time I got home my legs were covered in bites that swelled up the size of carbuncles and burned and itched so bad I couldn't stand it. It is so much worse than poison ivy, and absolutely nothing soothes it. Nothing. In addition, I had a fever that lasted almost two weeks. All of my glands were swollen, including those weird ones right on the back of your head. They were all tender to the touch. I was afraid my legs would scar, and it did take months for them to completely go away.

Meanwhile, I had to keep writing my book, so I, of course, got a secondary infection that overwhelmed my respiratory system. Within three weeks of getting attacked by the bedbugs, I had pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinusitis. It took a month to recover from it (and most of that time was spent dealing with the side effects of Levaquin, the antibiotic I was on).

During all that I got an email from the Chair of the conference saying that because of my issues with the hotel that they didn't want me at the next conference. I tried to tell them that it was an unusual circumstance, that I now know what a bedbug is and how to look for them in other rooms to avoid a repeat of the problem, but apparently criticizing the hotel is such a bad thing that I have been removed from the conference website, and my classes have been removed from the schedule.

Needless to say, I didn't go to the spa while at the hyatt grand cypress in florida. And although I had a good conference, I am probably no longer working for them because of that hotel.

On to other news-- the book is still not done. You know, the eight hundred page technical monstrosity I was suckered into writing. Yeah, that thing. I'm still working on it.

Currently I am editing it, finally, because I pushed to have production stop so I could do something about it. It is a real struggle (some of which I can't tell you about right now but I promise I will) and I struggle to keep working despite the despair that plagues me.

Oh, and I am definitely allergic (or intolerant?) to wheat. For a year I have been avoiding wheat, corn, and soy. And over that time I have gotten more and more healthy. Then I accidentally was exposed to wheat through some veggies I thought were grilled (let that be a lesson to ya), they were fried in grease that had had wheat in it.

I was dizzy, clumsy, and felt poisoned. The following day, I woke up with the pain that used to plague me-- stiffness and soreness in my back, shoulders and neck. The exact MS symptoms I used to have. It lasted for days and nothing would help. Finally, after four days of no wheat/corn/soy the pain suddenly cleared up. Midday, sitting here typing, I felt a warmth sort of flow from the top of my head, down the back of my neck, shoulder and back. It tingled for a minute and then...the pain was gone. The stiffness went away a little more slowly, but it was gone by that night. I haven't had any pain since, and I have avoided eating at the restaurant that poisoned me earlier.

I have also learned some important things-- most blue cheese, and some feta have wheat in them. So not all cheeses are automatically wheat free. Brie (which breaks my heart) can also have wheat in it. Anything that is fried can be wheat contaminated, either because the oil (for some reason no one seems able to explain) is based on wheat, or because breaded or crumbed stuff is cooked in it.

I have also found that, instead of growing more tolerant as my immune system calms down, I am growing more intolerant. I now get dizzy almost immediately if anything I eat has a little wheat in it. And, that sucks.

I no longer can do the soy pancakes, even they make me sick. Although I have been told to try spelt, so when I have time, that will be my next test.

Anyway, that's my story, or at least most of it. Stay tuned for more some other time.