I live in Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales. I have two sons, five yrs and two years. My eldest son has had allergies since he was a few months old, this year he has had to miss school quite a bit due to allergies, with hive like blisters all over his body and an asthma like cough, he has eczema and always feels sick. His little brother has been in hospital with his allergies possibly asthma.

My question is do you know if Milton, on the south coast is one of the areas that is allergy free. I used to suffer from bad allergies and arthritis and read and was told by two different specialists that I should move to Milton. Please could I have any information on allergy free areas to live in Australia as I am wiling to move for my children’s health sake. Thank you. — Deborah, Australia

I grew up in Long Island, NY & always had allergies. Presently living in Tampa, FL (23 years) & developed asthma 7 years ago. My allergist said this is the worst state in the country to live, as something is always blooming. I am wondering if anyone out there tried New Mexico. I figure the dry air would be helpful. Appreciate any feedback. — Sandra, Florida

Looking for insight, and a little bit of hope. I grew up on Oahu and when I was about 7 I started experiencing allergic reactions. I developed asthma and everything went downhill from there. First I developed really bad bronchitis and this turned into pneumonia. We moved to Yuma, AZ when I was nine…a little extreme I think, but I’ve lived all over Arizona, including mountainous and forested Flagstaff, and have had very little if any problems.

Arizona can be beautiful, but I’m having difficulties really loving the desert region. I really miss the ocean and wetter climates. I tried Long Island, NY but developed two really bad cases of bronchitis, one after another, during the Fall.

Well, I’m now 25, engaged, and wanting to show the places I held dear in my heart as a child to my fiance. So we want to have a “premoon”, our wedding, and our honeymoon in the Hawaiian islands. But, I’m really concerned about how I’ll handle it health-wise. My main allergies are to pollens. I seem to be okay with orchids & roses, but not lillies (which are my favorite!). I don’t think molds are a real problem, but I’m hoping to see a doctor and try to find out specifically. Any other suggestions? Thank you all for any input! — Summer, Arizona

Does anyone have information about Santa Barbara, Ca. or San Luis Obispo, Ca. for mold allergy and asthma sufferers? — A.R.

Little did I know that soon after I received this encouraging note from Ruth in Florida, the AllergyNursing.com website would go down. Ruth writes:

This is just a Thank you. Most sites that say they want to “help” you just want your email address first before you get any real info. Thank you for actually offering information that helps!

The “Allergy Climates and Seasons” area of our site was down for a week because of problems at our web hosting service. Partly this was caused by a hacker which damaged the site in a way that I had to reinstall everything once the site was back up. I had everything backed up pretty well, but getting all the plugins that make this site go to work again took some effort. My strabismus (see my strabismus blog at EyesApart.com) makes it difficult for me to focus my eyes for extended periods of time, so it’s taken me a little longer than it would have for most.

But sometimes during troublesome times, the greatest encouragement comes. While the site was down, Meridith in Oregon made my day with this note:

I’ve tried many different links, and it appears the climates database is down. I find this info incredibly useful, so I just wanted to make you aware of the problem.

Thanks to Ruth, Meridith, and all our readers for your continued support and encouragement. Now that we’re back up and running, I plan to post your Climate emails regularly again!

Blessings all!
Lois