the letter

Dr. Axe finally wrote me the letter that I will give to the Peace Corps as part of the appeal. Of course, it's never that simple - the letter has a bunch of typos that I didn't notice at first so I had to call him back and will need to go to his office on Monday to pick up the new letter. It seems that absolutely nothing about this process will be easy!!

He diagnoses me as having Oral Allergy Syndrome after all Oral Allergy Syndrome Facts but says that my condition is benign, not accompanied by life-threatening effects, and responsive to simple self-medication. He notes that I also tested positive to walnut and peanut. (Note: When I was in his office, he showed me the lab reports which seemed to indicate an allergy to hazelnuts. Not sure why the discrepancy there, but I'm not saying a word). The letter says clearly that the allergic condition does not restrict me from safely travelling to the remote locations characteristic of the Peac Corps, and recommends that Benedryl should be available in case of accidental brazil nut ingestion.

By the way, if anyone out there is a little curious about brazil nuts, check this out Brazil Nut Homepeage, complete with brazil nut photo gallery!!

So now the next step is for me to write a cover letter, and on Monday send out the package. It'll probably be several months before I hear anything :(

In other news, I officially resigned from school and let my principal and assistant principal know I am leaving. They seemed neither sad nor surprised. I also told the students in the club that I advise, and word has spread quickly from there. The rumors have started also - who knew that Honduras was in Iraq??