A little over two months ago, I woke up with a puffy face and what appeared to be mosquito bites.

Seven trips to the doctor’s, four fairly crazed encounters with an exterminator, and truly countless loads of laundry later, it was determined that I had urticarial vasculitis. In English, that means chronic hives, occurring as a result of inflamed blood vessels.

This is not ideal. Though of course, it’s highly preferably than some of the other options.

The upside of these past 10 weeks is that I have been constantly reminded of the generosity of my family, my friends (internet & otherwise) and my coworkers. So many people have been so generous-with their time, their patience, their support-while I have been trying to figure all of this out.

It has not been easy for me to live constantly with something over which I have such little control, and I am truly grateful to everyone for reminding me in so many different ways, big and small, that things are going to be ok.

So, thanks.