Well That Was Exciting...

It was just an ordinary day... in many ways it was extraordinary.  Hobbit finally slept through the night without any tummy issues.  Peanut wanted to help Hobbit with her homework AND Hobbit listened well to Peanut.  I was able to get supper to the kids by 5:30 p.m. and Pokey may have figured out what was wrong with my SUV (fingers crossed it was just the fact it was low on oil).  Supper came out beautifully - Slow Cooked Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Loaded Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans... it was pretty and scrumptious.  So then why did this particular little twist have to occur?  Why?  I did nothing out of my ordinary housewife life.

I can see that you are confused and begging the question "What... what happened"... well, I'll tell you.  I apparently have a flare for the dramatic, according to my mother anyway, but that makes for good reading, right, so here goes.  After all the kids were tucked in bed and life was winding down for the day, I hopped on my laptop to play a game with Pokey.  It was late but I had an hour before bed, plenty of time to tool around Middle Earth.

There I am, doing my thing, when all of a sudden my left palm started to itch.  My brain began running through the old wives tale about getting money or owing money and which hand was what (never did figure it out), all the while scratching my palm.  Now, my left palm will rest on a section of the laptop that gets a bit warm after a while so I just figured it was hot.  Then my right hand started to itch.  Well there goes whatever money I may be getting... my itching hands were negating each other on old wives tales.  Then my tummy started itching, my back, my feet, my legs... my face was flushed and even my ears were itching.  "Well this can't be good.  I know no wives tale regarding anything like this" was all I could think.

After logging off my computer and reminding Pokey that it's bedtime, he turned and noticed me wringing my hands.  He could see that they were red and it was creeping up my arms.  Apparently, the look I hold on my face when I am trying to scratch the entire first layer of skin off my body is rather scary for my husband.  He turned on a cold shower, thinking it was just dry skin from the heat being on and the colder weather.  Logical assumption but no.. this was no ordinary itch.  I had had this itch before.. I was praying that the next part wouldn't happen but it did.  The hives made their grand entrance.

The only other time I had this issue was when I was on an alternative generic version of Penicillin this summer.  I had been bitten by an ant and it went thirty kinds of wrong.  I was having an allergic reaction to something - but what.  My food was the same, I hadn't changed laundry soap or drier sheets... absolutely nothing was different.  While my mind was prattling on in the shower, a new twist came into play - I couldn't breath.  It was the oddest sensation... like cotton mouth but a billion times worse.  My throat got so tight it  was rather scary.  "Wonder if my inhaler will fix this" is all I could think of - the answer, by the way, is no.

Needless to say, that made my husband pack me up and haul me off to the ER.  He woke Peanut and gave her the house phone, borrowed her cell phone and told her we'd be back so don't worry.  We get to the ER, which is thankful simply behind our house - a minute away as the crow flies - and got back immediately.  I can only imagine what I look like now - wheezing, shivering (I got so cold it was unreal) and apparently doing my best lobster imitation.  My entire body (oh yes, ENTIRE body) was now bright red.  They did all the paperwork and whisked us off to the back.  I was plopped on a bed, poked 6 times for them to find a vein because apparently I wasn't cooperating and the prodding began.

Now with all this activity you would think that someone would be able to tell me what happened.  That with all the years of medical training combined, someone would be able to deduce from all the information I had to squeak out, what it was that set of such a horrible chain of events.  Nope, not a clue.  I got an IV full of 'liquids', mega dose of what was basically Benedryl and a shot of a steroid to kick the antihistamine up a notch.  I may have made a comment upon learning of the steroid that I always wanted to be buff - I'm not sure though... I tend to joke when I'm nervous.

So here I am, bruised like drug addict who went on a binge, a tad raw in spots from the inability to control myself at all times (admit it, sometimes it feels good to rake the towel across your back when it itches) and no clue what the heck happened.  I do, however, have Rx to take in, a referral to an allergist and a strong desire to simply take a nap.

All I can think about last night was "Well, that was exciting, wasn't it... let's not do it again".