Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I Hate Being Sick



Being sick is no fun. Who would have thought that a little green plant could knock a person off their feet for over a week? Who would have pictured a skin rash and an itch making a person totally useless?

Last week is mostly a blur. I made it to work all week and I even managed to teach my classes. The only thing I remember was hearing the kids yell "Don't scratch." Two of the boys in my calculus class got me a bottle of calamine lotion from the JROTC office and I ended up walking around with big gobs of that stuff all over my arms (which thankfully were covered) and my neck (which was not covered.) I looked awful but when you feel as bad as I felt, nothing mattered.

The itching was bad, but the sleepless nights it caused were much worse. I don't think I got more than two hours sleep a night all week.

The worst part of being sick is that all others around fail to exist. My son was getting over a bad cold, but I did not even ask how he was doing. My husband has an injured knee, but that too, slipped my mind. A friend needed something that I had, but I never even bothered to call him. I couldn't even visit my sister who was in NY from Texas.

My arms still look awful, but most of the itching is gone. I went to the dermatologist today to make sure things were progressing as they should. She prescribed some different medication and told me I was allergic to one of the medications I was using. I should have known since the redness was getting worse, not better and my arms look slightly swollen, but I was so out of it, nothing mattered. We are going to a wedding in a few weeks. I hope by then my arms are presentable enough to be seen in the sleeveless dress I plan on wearing.
I'm starting to feel human again. It will be a long, long time until I go near green stuff in the garden again.

1 comment:

CaliforniaTeacherGuy said...

Poison ivy is nasty stuff! I ran into it once years ago in Georgia. I didn't know it grew in NYC, but now I know and, unfortunately, so do you.

Hope the itching is only a memory by now!