Our Story: Highlight of my week: Contact Dermatitis

I have never in my life had an allergic reaction to anything, until now. Ever since moving to this lovely island I have encountered what I thought were thousands of bug bites. I have probably 50 little scars on my legs that I have gotten just in the last 3 months from living here. This week I found out they probably weren't all from bug bites. About 3 weeks ago I got a rash on my feet and ankles. I assumed it was nothing and put some cream on them for about 4 days and it went away. Then on Monday evening I noticed a rash on my leg. It wasn't huge but it itched like crazy just like the one on my feet had. I assumed it would go away in a few days like the other one. Well the next morning it had spread all the way up my leg and onto the other leg. By the time I was off work that day it had spread all over both my legs. I had painful little red bumps all over them. So I think it was Tuesday after work I went in to the clinic to get it taken care of. The doctor didn't know what it was but thinks that I probably have been allergic to something here all along and my body was finally just not getting rid of it on its own. Probably some kind of grass or plant I have been walking and sitting on.

I am just so glad Stephen was at the clinic with me. One of the first things the doctor asked me was how I handle needles. Well I told the doctor not well but that I couldn't stand the pain anymore. The fastest way to stop the spreading was to get a Hydrocortisone injection. It was not my lucky day. I have never been one that handles needles well especially this time. I turned ghost white and the nurse probably thought I was going to pass out. What made it the absolute worse was that the nurse didn't get it in my vein on the first try. But she was determined! She finally gave up and the doctor tried on the other hand and got it right in. The only somewhat humorous part about all of it was that I said I didn't want to look at the needle before the doctor put it in and in that instant the nurse opened the cupboard and about 15 huge needles fell onto the floor right where I was looking away. It was not a fun experience and I really hope I won't be visiting the clinic again anytime soon. After that I headed home with a big old bruise on my hand, a bunch of benadryl and a weeks worth of prednisolone.

Besides my allergic reaction it was a pretty decent week. This is the last week of the semester! Stephen had 3 exams this week. His final is in two days and we both cannot wait for it to be over. Stephen has done so well this semester and we are very excited to spend some time together. At work this week the prep school put on a school Christmas play so I spent the week watching them practice for it. Jack was really cute during the songs. Jack also celebrated his 8th birthday. His birthday isn't really until next week but his mom wanted all of the prep school to be there before the break came and students started going home. Jack's mom is amazing. She went all out for Jack's party. There was sand art, face painting, pizza, cookies, little toys for the kids, bubbles, and balloon animals. I'm pretty sure Jack loved it. He really is a lucky boy.

My battle wound from the nurse. I'm pretty sure she was digging for gold.