Where to begin?

Basically my story begins to unfold as of around 4 months ago.
Prior to September this year I had suffered from chronic hayfever and allergies for roughly 7 years. This began with what seemed to be relatively normal bouts of sneezing and progressed to severe daily sneezing episodes that sometimes consumed the entire day... and anyone who has had hayfever realises that this is very energy zapping! Not only do you feel as though everything inside your head and face is itchy it is very tiring sneezing and blowing and sniffing constantly... and we won't get into the sheer unsightliness of it. Not a good look when you are out in mixed company!

So in September this year I realised something was a little off track when I awoke and saw my sinuses must have become so severely infected that the bridge of my nose... dead center between my almond shaped eyes, had swollen significantly and had become a whiter shade of pale.

I'm the first to admit I'd tied one on the night before and I was feeling rather sorry for myself to say the least after an evening of far too many vodka's on the rocks, but this was out the ordinary... beyond any hangover... and I was feeling light headed and suffering from an extremely severe pain all around my eyes and nose.
My own mother took one look at me and insisted on driving me to the doctors, but as it was Saturday and I had slept in, they had just closed up for the day, so I went home, went back to bed and drove myself down on Monday morning after a painful weekend wondering what exactly could be wrong with my nose? Maybe I was just having an allergic reaction to something?

By Monday the swelling had subsided somewhat but I was still in alot of pain. I passed on the idea of going to my usual GP for some bizarre reason and booked my appointment at the new surgery just up the road. The new doctor was fantastic!
He performed all the kosher tests around my head, the usual, ear, nose throat stuff and then informed me that I should have a CT Scan to check my sinuses, fearing that they were badly blocked!
I had all the tests done within 3 days and was back for my consult with my new doctor by the end of the week getting my referral to the ENT Specialist.

Long story short... I had Completely Blocked Sinuses. All areas that show clear on a sinus scan were filled on mine. Not one single expanse on the scan of fresh air in my little sinuses whatsoever! No wonder I was in pain!
My ENT Specialist inspected my sinuses with an Endoscope (a little tube with a camera on the end) and had to inform me that I had major Nasal Polyps that needed to be treated.
The outlook from here was looking totally different to what I expected...
I had sore sinuses for a couple of weeks...
I'd suffered from chronic hayfever for 7 years! Nobody had ever checked this before! What was wrong with my last doctor? The one I had been seeing for 12 or so years! I hadn't been warned any of this was happening! I was quite angry... and angry wasn't the word it was more so disappointed... disappointed that my GP of 12 years had neglected to even test me for what was the most logical explanation for a majority of my 7 years of allergies.

So that day... at my new friend, the ENT Specialists Office I was faced with the scenario...
Surgery, Steroid Treatment, Complete Diet Change.
Sounds like fun hey!

Well... this is the beginning of my "Intolerant Life". The struggles with what I have and will continue to go through... just like a million other people out there who have an intolerance or allergy or some other type of ailment that has and will change them forever!

Within these Blog pages I am going to try and research new finding of this Salicylate Sensitivity that I am suffering from along with countless other people.
I love to cook so I will try and find, and even create new Recipes and Menu's that we can all follow so our diet isn't so blah...
I will create listings and consult dietitians and naturopaths to find out what we can and can't eat and keep track of new foods coming out that may be okay for us all!

I want to do this the right way... Being only 28 I'll be doing it for a long time yet so I'm going in head first!
If I can make a difference to you or someone you know... Please send me some encouragement!

Hope you all have a magical day!