First Surgery, Allergy Apps, and Drinking the Costco Lemonade – Thoughts from March 23, 2025

There’s so much I haven’t talked about in these Thoughts papers; I don’t know where to begin. The biggest thing going on in my life is being scheduled for my first surgery. On May 22, I will have that first surgery. I am augmenting my nose to be even larger. Actually, I’m getting the polyp on my vocal cord removed. I went back to the throat doctor on March 6 and had my checkup after three months of changing my diet. He put the current picture next to picture from three months ago and they were almost identical. He asked if I wanted to wait more time or schedule the surgery in three months. I had no hesitation in choosing the surgery. If it gets better when they check it just before the surgery, I don’t need it.

My throat is somewhat related to my next subject. As I’ve mentioned, I have a list of items that I’m severely, moderately, or not at all allergic to. The big items were wheat, pecans, milk, and eggs. A pecan pie just might kill me. I’ve been struggling to find things that fit all the allergy restrictions, hoping my throat will benefit from removing these problem foods. I thought one day that there must be an app that can help with this. The company I got my allergy results from had an app, but it didn’t seem to do what I wanted. I did a Google search and found an allergy app. As I always say, we live in the best time to be alive – the present.

Finding the app was only the first part of using it. I had to go through all the problematic foods, additives, and other things I would put in my mouth and rate my reactivity to them. Luckily, I didn’t have to input all the foods I could eat. The next time we went to the grocery store I checked all the things I was buying. Again, produce was already being monitored since I got the allergy list. I made my grocery list with the app in hand so I knew what I could get even before going to the store. It was cool to find things I could eat without having to study the ingredients. The app is hugely useful and saves me time at staring at ingredients endlessly, but it has a monthly cost to use it. All I have to do is scan the barcode to test the ingredients. It’s worth the cost.

Patti and I drank the Kool-Aid and became Costco members. They built one just down the street from us, so it was a straightforward decision. We have been Sam’s Club members, but a brand-new Costco was hard to resist. In my first trip there, I used my allergy app to find snack foods I could eat. $150 later, I had a cart loaded with granola bars and other things I could eat. The one thing Sam’s Club had over Costco was its scan and go app. I’ve looked on the Costco app but can’t find anything like it. The Internet said they have such a thing, but I can’t find it. (Future note: A further search revealed that they do not have a scan and go app and they probably never will. It’s just not their way of making purchases. They want to force as much interaction with employees as possible. Some people like that. I’m not one of those people. They have their own version of scan and go in the self-check machines. There is usually a line to use it. There are other people with only a few items like us. Most of the time it’s not too long a wait.)