Allergy Shot Upgrade: Horses now included!

I started cluster shots to desensitize my horse allergy about a month ago. I stopped going to get shots throughout wrestling, so I'm getting my cat shot built back up at the same time. Thankfully, I have two arms to poke.

I flipped back through the blog out of curiosity. Five years ago I first mentioned shots. I decided to start injections four years ago, and I completed the cluster ramp up nine weeks after that. Which was good, because a kitten showed up not long after.

I kept it up until we moved (I think). There was a lapse when we moved and then I started down here. I've suspected/known I was still allergic to horses through all this time, but never moved to get it confirmed until last year.

I started my new regimen of cluster shots (with horse included) at the beginning of March. Cluster shots must have grown in popularity, because the time slots keep filling up! The allergist only allows one cluster patient to cycle through at a time. I can't drop in and get shots. I have to schedule it days in advance and usually the afterschool or earliest morning shots are booked. My boss is flexible and has let me come in a half hour late for my first class once a week to get the shots in.

With a week off for Spring Break, I've gone through 5 of the 9 shots. I had a larger local reaction than usual once and they made me go home and come back for a drop in shot to finish a sequence. Nothing major.

The biggest difference I've noticed is in the cost. My health insurance in Northern Virginia was top notch. I didn't have to pay anything for injections. I remember the allergist commenting on, "Get it while the getting's good!" I don't recall paying for the serum either, but I might have had to contribute something. There was still a co-pay if I needed an appointment with the allergist (I think it was $20).

In Cville, the insurance is not as good. The copay for an allergist visit is $40. Instead of free injections, insurance leaves me $2.35 to pay after each visit. That's not bank-breaking, but it is more. Cluster shots are a series of 3 and then 2 and then 1 shot visits over 9 weeks. I was surprised when the bill finally showed up and each session cost $33.

If the buildup continues as planned, I'll be on the maintenance dose in early May. That'll leave me ready for summer.