THIS is How I'll Spend 2007?

They say whatever you do New Year's Eve, you'll do the rest of the new year. If that's the case, I'm in trouble. Let me explain.

When we bought our house many moons ago, I discovered that I had a reaction to latex paint! Every time I painted a white room, I got this horrible rash on my face, which is sad, because I love to give color to boring, white walls.

On Thursday at work, they were doing some kind of painting on my floor. The fumes were terrible, but I didn't think much about it, until Friday when my face starting rashing out. By Saturday, the rash had moved from my chin to my forehead and neck, and this morning, it was red, itchy and it felt like my face was on fire. I tried Benadryl and Cortaid, but it didn't help. We called the pharmacist, who said that I needed to call my doc today or go to a doc in the box - that it wouldn't get better and would only get worse if I didn't get a steroid pack.

Silly me, I have a great relationship with my super doctor, Brad Word, from the Columbia Medical Group, so instead of going to a doc in the box, I called the answering service and left a message for the doctor on call to call me. After all, I'd been treated for this before, knew what it was, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was a little taken back when they told me there would be a $25 charge to page the doctor on call, but I was red-faced and desperate.

A Dr. Edward Haselden returned my call, and before I could finish a sentence that I'd been exposed to latex paint, which causes me an allergic reaction, this doctor interrupts me to say - in a very condescending tone - that I COULDN'T have a reaction to latex paint because latex was a synthetic rubber. Whatever. I didn't tell my face what to react to. I said something like, "Whatever dude. Every time I paint with latex paint this happens and I was exposed to it Thursday, but no matter, my face is about to fall off." He suggested I go to the doc in the box and proceeded again to explain something about latex paint and even if I'd been in a closed room with it - by that time I was REALLLLLLY ticked off and mid-sentence thanked him and hung up.

Instead of trying to help me, or even telling me he couldn't, he was trying to argue with me about what I knew was wrong. This guy has some SERIOUS bedside manner issues, and they will have an argument on their hands when they try to get $25 from me for that seriously deficit exchange. I was really enraged by the whole thing and had a small tantrum at my house. It's just that he was SOO nasty about it, like I was trying to scam Oxycontin off him or something!

Long story short, I ended up going to the doc in a box who checked me out, DIDN'T ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT WHAT MY FACE REACTS TO, and prescribed a steroid pack. My face is red and itchy and bumpy, and this is no way to spend New Year's Eve. I hope 2007 gets off to a better start! (On the up side, I did get some great Christmas gift wrap 75% off at Walgreen's while I was there.)

And what did YOU do New Year's Eve?