But anyway, the thing that I learned that I thought I should pass along was that several friends theorized that I am allergic to betadyne. And one knew of a really important thing about this, which is that at least one of the dyes that they use for these various contrast tests if you are allergic to betadyne you will be allergic to the dye, too. Her friend had an IVP (which I think is a scan of the kidneys?) and almost died from the allergic reaction.
This is a really easy thing to test for at home. You can buy this stuff at the drug store, and rub some of it on some spot on your skin, and it you get a rash then make sure that this allergy is noted on your chart.
(I did not have the weirdest allergy of the group, though -- that would be the allergy to benedryl! Or the nastiest, which has got to be to woman allergic to vagisil -- talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire! YOWSERS! For those of you who are not in the US, vagisil is a creme designed to relieve "feminine itching" and imagine putting something down there that you are allergic to... 8-0 )
-- cathy :-)