It’s been quite a month and I need to tell you what’s been going on with me.
Results
First, the results from all the scans and labwork from April were good. I had an appointment on my mom’s birthday (May 7th),, but nearly missed it because I had remembered the wrong time. Fortunately, my doctor saw Victor and me in the waiting room and took her time.
The Trip
Later that day, we left for France in two cars: I drove my mom’s car and we took the two dogs, Puk and Jaap. Jaap is our Dalmatian dog from the dog rescue. Victor and Nancy followed with the luggage. We had two apartments side by side in the Hippotel in Le Touquet, about an hour south of Calais in Northern France. Thursday it rained all day but Nancy and I walked on the beach with the dogs. Friday was better and at the end of the day we had sun.
The Bite
While I was sitting on the grass, Jaap jumped at Puk and wanted to bite him. I tried to intervene and was bitten myself. It hurt terribly, and I was bleeding. Jaap’s teeth were deep in my wrist and the bone hurt badly. It was the wrong thing to do – to try to stop him – and he had not meant to bite me. But there we were, my hand badly hurt. Victor dressed the wound and I lay down to try to get over the pain. The next day, Victor drove me back home, with Jaap on the back seat. Once we got back we went to the hospital where the doctor gave me a tetanus vaccination (mine had just expired) and prescribed an antibiotics cure.
The Shock
A week later, on Saturday, I noticed a rash developing. When I was in the hospital in oktober 2012, I had also developed a rash because of the antibiotics. Turns out I was still very allergic. That night, we went to the hospital again and the doctor prescribed anti-itch medication. I slept all day Sunday and Monday but Victor didn’t feel good about it and called the doctor. The doctor checked my pulse which he found too high and my bloodpressure too low. My temperature was 40.3 C. His conclusion was that I had an anaphylactic shock. The ambulance took me to the hospital where they pumped me full of fillers and other junk – adrenaline, dexamethasone, prednisone etc.
I had to stay two nights and was then discharged. My whole body is covered by the rash, but the medication makes it bearable. Here’s a photo of my arm:
On Thursday I felt very weak – which turned out to be my low bloodpressure again (78/39). My doctor advised me to eat licorice to raise my bloodpressure.
The training
Friday I attended the training for the ambassadors for work and cancer. It was good to meet the others and be part of a group of like-minded individuals who have all had similar experiences. The past few days my face and legs have been swollen – my ankles are thick again. I hope to get back to work again this week and get back to normal.
Sheila Ghosh - blog 