the comedy is lost

Thank you for your advice and good wishes on my last couple of posts. I was in better spirits yesterday, having won the "I Love to Kvetch" award over at Phantom Scribbler's for Whining Wednesday.




I hope this will be my one and only win for "Whine of Substance", at least for the foreseeable future.




Since I know not all of you partake in the wonder that is Whining Wednesdays, I shall share my tale of woe with you here.

After I woke up on Wednesday morning with more hives despite the wall to wall Benadryl I had been taking, I was given an emergency appointment that morning with my regular doctor. When I arrived at the doctor's office, I had hives on my arms and some around my calves, but nothing extreme. As the nurse called my name, I stood up to walk down the hall and felt something in my left shoe. I stopped walking, looked at the bottom of my sole, thinking I'd gotten something wedged in there... Nothing. I continued down the hall and the feeling remained of something stuck in there, so the moment we stopped in an exam room I pulled off my boot and found a golf ball sized lump on the side of my foot. I peeled my sock off to find welts appearing all over my foot, while the lump on the side and bottom of my foot grew. The nurse took one look at my foot and squeaked out "I'll, umm, go get the doctor." The doc rushed in and started examining the hives. She asked me to show her my other foot. I peeled off my sock and she compared the two, and before our very eyes, another lump began growing on the other foot. Additionally, smaller bumps were showing up all over the rest of my feet and calves. Within a few minutes, my forearms were covered in hives, as well.

I was freaked, to say the least. It was one thing to have innocuous looking bumps on my body, but these lumps were big and uncomfortable, and it felt as if I were walking with a golf ball tucked into my foot. Ick.

The doctor prescribed some Allegra, more Benadryl, and an emergency dose of steroid should I have any breathing complications, but surprisingly, no tests or additional ideas. At the time, I was pretty overwhelmed with the hives and the speed at which they were changing, so I didn't question her diagnosis. She suspects an allergy to Advil. Odd, because I take Advil as my basic pain reliever, for headaches and body aches and random ailments, but she thought that maybe the migraine had lowered my body's resistance, and the Advil allergy was able to take its full form.

Anyway, I started the treatment on Wednesday. At this point, I remained chipper and endured the hives with little complaint. Enough whining to win my award (YAY!) but I was going to work and being the good employee that I am.

Thursday morning, however, I woke up with lips swollen a la Angelina Jolie. And folks, it wasn't a good look for me. I will not be seeking collagen injections at any point in the future. I was mildly alarmed by the burning, stinging and swelling, but I did my regular morning routine and headed off to work. During the day, I started to feel significantly better. The lip swelling went down, the hives seemed to be decreasing, and even my cold seemed a little better.

Thursday night, at around 10:30pm, I packed up my stuff and drove my friend home from work to take a peek at her Christmas decorations. While in her apartment, I began to have this strange feeling. It was hard to describe, but it didn't feel right. I felt lots of pressure in my chest, some shortness of breath, and a strong need to throw up. Because I'm an idiot, I insisted on driving myself home, and then promptly freaked out while driving. The tightness was getting worse, and I wondered if I shouldn't head straight for the emergency room of the closest hospital. In the end, I got on the phone with Josh, and since I was only 10 minutes from home, I drove straight home and took a full dose of Benadryl and lay down on the couch to see if I improved.

I know, I know. You're wondering why I didn't go straight to the emergency room. And frankly, today I'm wondering that too. But at midnight, exhausted and frustrated and not really knowing what was happening, it didn't register with either one of us that I was having another manifestation of the extreme allergic reaction. At one point, Josh noted that I also had hives all over my face, where there'd been none just before. I started to cry, and told Josh that I wished someone would tell me what to do. I kept saying that I didn't "feel right" but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. We finally decided I'd lie down and try to sleep and see if I felt any better.

I slept late this morning, and woke up groggy and exhausted but better. My cheeks were a bit swollen, but no hives were visible at first glance. This was a brief respite, though, and by the time I arrived at the office I was in full-blown hive mode. This time they were all over my hands, arms, feet, and both legs. The ones on my legs were intensely itchy, very swollen and were driving me a bit nuts.

I spoke to my friend, Dr. B, who chastised me for not going to the emergency room the night before. He said that my doctor needed to hear what was happening, and that we had moved from the normal hives "nothing to do" mode, into a dangerous place where I needed some answers. A call into my doctor confirmed his advice, and she prescribed steroids and a referral to an allergy and immunology specialist.

My orders are clear, and if I experience any lip swelling, throat itching, chest pressure or shortness of breath, I am to go directly to the hospital. Do not pass Go. In the meantime, Josh and my plans to attend a cousin's bar mitzvah in Long Island with his family are out of the question, and Josh can't even go without me since my symptoms seem to get worse at night and I need someone around to drive me in case of an emergency.

All in all, these aren't serious problems, but this week has felt incredibly long. I am still working like a crazy person at the office while scratching my legs uncontrollable. I am less productive, which makes my hours even longer, and this weekend I'm going to have to work to make up for what I didn't get done during the week.

So if you have some happy anti-hivey messages you can send my way, I'd really appreciate it. While I'm typing, the hives are appearing on my fingers and arms. Sigh. Let's hope the steroids boot this allergy right out.