Hi guys,

Just wondered if anyone found that what were normally quite mild allergies ran riot after chemo?

I'm allergic to dogs but until recently it was a simple case of itchy eyes, runny nose and if I took antihistamines it wasn't too bad.  I even invited my twin's gorgeous dog to my wedding last year and played with him.

A year and a half on and now post-chemo, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend have gone and got a dog.   We never planned for this situation arising because he's never shown the slightest bit of interest in dogs or in having any pet to be honest.  We have been staying at his parents while I undergo treatment, so of course next thing you know they bring the dog up to this house.

I had itchy eyes, runny nose at the time, but by the next morning my legs and arms were covered in hives.  They were so itchy I struggled to get to sleep and the itchiness could wake me up too.  Antihistamines don't touch it.

His girlfriend is an Oncology nurse and knows I'm allergic to dogs.  We're unsure why the dog comes at all to be honest, we thought people left their pets at home when visiting others?  Anyway, people generally don't have a good understanding of allergies, so I then had a week of being told it couldn't be the dog because I still had the hives even though the dog was gone and I was starting to feel really guilty like I was causing a problem somehow.  As such I have really played down how bad the hives have got (except with my husband).

Managed to get some corticosteroid cream and that was helping until I went to a cafe the other day with a friend.  Turned out there were 3 small dogs in the cafe all tucked away under tables, so I didn't see them at first.  Then a guy came and took the table next to us and he had a dog.  We exited quickly but the next day my hives were worse than they'd ever been, the itching was unbearable.  I've tried ice packs, cold showers, everything I can think of.  But the only thing that is working is avoiding dogs completely.

So now I'm feeling guilty again as we knew my brother-in-law was coming up to the parents with his dog again this weekend so we've stayed away completely, even crashing on the couch at our house (we've had to empty the house while a heating system is being put in) just to not have me anywhere near the dog.  We're just lying and claiming we're staying there for other reasons.

But I don't know what to do long-term.  My husband's parents like us to visit regularly, but as far as we're concerned there's no way I can be here if there is a chance my brother-in-law is going to bring his dog up.  My brother-in-law's girlfriend apparently doesn't like being around people so she doesn't actually want to visit but I don't want them using my allergy as an excuse when they should just admit that she doesn't want to visit.  My mother-in-law will also want everyone around on New Years' Day but there's no way we can be here if there's a chance the dog will come too.

I'm going to be on another two drugs soon, both of which triggered allergic reactions in my mum.  I know the public view of allergies is, generally, that they usually aren't serious, but I know that any allergies are serious when you have cancer.  How on earth am I supposed to see my in-laws this year without risking being near the dog too?  I don't feel my husband should have to go to his parents on his own as that means less time together for us when our time is already limited in the long-term by my cancer.

Grrrr, sorry for blabbering on, just stressing about what to do.  Ultimately if needs be we'll just have to not visit the parents-in-law but that seems somewhat unfair really.

LJx