when "I don't know" is really not what you want to hear
so maybe i shouldn't have had gone out since I was feeling the onset of a flu. But it was the last Bridge night of michaelmas, and the second last day of term, and vicky was about to fuck off to america forEVER. And what better to numb the pain of a running nose than 14 shots? It was a good night anyways, genuine good fun, and I didn't feel sick at all in there. But stumbling home in the rain made my throat and nose hurt, and so I asked paul for paracetemol, and he gave me alka-seltzer. They were kind of like those huge vitamin C orange tablet things which you put in water and it fizzes and disappears and you drink the whole thing, and they're meant to be like lemsip: a combination of aspirin and paracetemol it was.
Sounds fine enough right? So I down it and then go up to join tony and the rest cooking instant noodles. My eyes start to itch a little, hmm, it must be my dry contact lenses or runny mascara or something. So I go take off my make-up and take out my contact lenses. But they're really starting to itch now. I rub a little - it's just lack of sleep, I tell myself.My eyes look a little puffy, but nothing unexpected from a long night out. Then, while standing over the boiling noodles, I literally feel the skin around my eyes swell up - I can feel the bloom, and suddenly: my peripheral vision is gone, and I feel like I can't open my eyes. I run to the mirror. My eyes have swollen up completely, both the skin above and below, giving me a kind of extra-terrestrial haunted look.
I scream and run to where veno is in tony's room - he's a third-year medic. "It's an allergic reaction to something! What did you take?" he says. Nothing! I say. except instant noodles, and I've never been allergic to that! They reccommend sleep, and the college nurse in the morning (well, in 2 hours. it was about 6am at the moment) if it doesn't go down.
I get into bed. Then it hits me immediately! It's the fucking alka-seltzer. This eye-swelling thing has happened to me 3 or 4 times in singapore, and always after some cold medication that I'm allergic to. (yes, the fact that I didn't - and don't - know the name of the drug i'm allergic to, kind of makes the whole thing my fault, I know.) So I run to the bathroom to puke out what's left of the alka-seltzer, hoping this would stop the swelling from getting worse.
And of course I wake up at 8 with even more swollen eyes. I now look just - there's no other word - monstrous. I run to the porter's lodge in horror for help, and they react in horror when they see me, but at least that translated into speedy advice to get down to the doctor's.
After the 7 pound (!) taxi ride, I am ushered in to the doctor immediately (the good thing about having such a terrifying blatant ailment does help in getting speedy service, I must say), and this young (he's like bloody 25 or something) dotor greets me. I gesture towards the plateau on my face. I tell him it's an allergic reaction to alka-seltzer. I ask for the name of the drug that I'm allergic to, and for immediate presciption to bring down the swelling. He spends - I am not kidding - the next 15 minutes flipping through his medical dictionary and looking up (!) stuff on the internet (!!!) and tells me that it "should" be aspirin that I'm allergic to. I get an injection of loratedine, and am told to wait for half an hour to see "if it works".
The swelling goes down a little. He says, wait another hour..see if it goes down more. I spend the hour in the marks and sparks nearby (scaring off every shopper within metre radius), and reading about chloe sevigny! muse. The swelling does not fo down further. it's stagnated at a still-alien-looking stage.
The doctor says, go home and come back to see him later. I say - 14 pounds for a return trip leh! He says, call him later instead.
So I go back and go to bed, hoping that I will wake up looking normal again. I don't. I wake up looking exactly the same, and when I open the door for phoebe, she goes "OHHHHH MY GOD", and proceeds to mutter "oh my god, oh my god" as I speak, peppered with the occasional "I feel sooooo sorry for you". This of course puts me in a great mood. Then, I actually have to go for collections (!) (which is basically at every end of term where your tutors sit together and you sit in front of them and they tell you what they think of you) like this. I frighten every person I meet on the way, earning comments like, from paisley: "you look very asian today...(and as I go nearer) OH MY GOD!", and paul: "why are you squinting at me....(and as I go nearer) OH MY GOD!"
So I go back and call the doctor. I say, it's not going down..why?! he says, I'll ring you back in 5 minutes (i.e I have to go flip through my dictionary now and google it somemore). he calls back, saying basically "well...I don't know. Take another pill and hope for the best."
So the swelling does go down little by little (by now i've popped about 5 of those pills). But I also had to pack - i had not started at all on clearing out of my room - and do about 4 weeks worth of laundry.
So here I am at 5.38am, still looking very Asian, but at least human-ish, with bags all around me, and giant suitcase which I don't know how I'm going to lug up the bus.
Ahhhh, this is the life.
Sounds fine enough right? So I down it and then go up to join tony and the rest cooking instant noodles. My eyes start to itch a little, hmm, it must be my dry contact lenses or runny mascara or something. So I go take off my make-up and take out my contact lenses. But they're really starting to itch now. I rub a little - it's just lack of sleep, I tell myself.My eyes look a little puffy, but nothing unexpected from a long night out. Then, while standing over the boiling noodles, I literally feel the skin around my eyes swell up - I can feel the bloom, and suddenly: my peripheral vision is gone, and I feel like I can't open my eyes. I run to the mirror. My eyes have swollen up completely, both the skin above and below, giving me a kind of extra-terrestrial haunted look.
I scream and run to where veno is in tony's room - he's a third-year medic. "It's an allergic reaction to something! What did you take?" he says. Nothing! I say. except instant noodles, and I've never been allergic to that! They reccommend sleep, and the college nurse in the morning (well, in 2 hours. it was about 6am at the moment) if it doesn't go down.
I get into bed. Then it hits me immediately! It's the fucking alka-seltzer. This eye-swelling thing has happened to me 3 or 4 times in singapore, and always after some cold medication that I'm allergic to. (yes, the fact that I didn't - and don't - know the name of the drug i'm allergic to, kind of makes the whole thing my fault, I know.) So I run to the bathroom to puke out what's left of the alka-seltzer, hoping this would stop the swelling from getting worse.
And of course I wake up at 8 with even more swollen eyes. I now look just - there's no other word - monstrous. I run to the porter's lodge in horror for help, and they react in horror when they see me, but at least that translated into speedy advice to get down to the doctor's.
After the 7 pound (!) taxi ride, I am ushered in to the doctor immediately (the good thing about having such a terrifying blatant ailment does help in getting speedy service, I must say), and this young (he's like bloody 25 or something) dotor greets me. I gesture towards the plateau on my face. I tell him it's an allergic reaction to alka-seltzer. I ask for the name of the drug that I'm allergic to, and for immediate presciption to bring down the swelling. He spends - I am not kidding - the next 15 minutes flipping through his medical dictionary and looking up (!) stuff on the internet (!!!) and tells me that it "should" be aspirin that I'm allergic to. I get an injection of loratedine, and am told to wait for half an hour to see "if it works".
The swelling goes down a little. He says, wait another hour..see if it goes down more. I spend the hour in the marks and sparks nearby (scaring off every shopper within metre radius), and reading about chloe sevigny! muse. The swelling does not fo down further. it's stagnated at a still-alien-looking stage.
The doctor says, go home and come back to see him later. I say - 14 pounds for a return trip leh! He says, call him later instead.
So I go back and go to bed, hoping that I will wake up looking normal again. I don't. I wake up looking exactly the same, and when I open the door for phoebe, she goes "OHHHHH MY GOD", and proceeds to mutter "oh my god, oh my god" as I speak, peppered with the occasional "I feel sooooo sorry for you". This of course puts me in a great mood. Then, I actually have to go for collections (!) (which is basically at every end of term where your tutors sit together and you sit in front of them and they tell you what they think of you) like this. I frighten every person I meet on the way, earning comments like, from paisley: "you look very asian today...(and as I go nearer) OH MY GOD!", and paul: "why are you squinting at me....(and as I go nearer) OH MY GOD!"
So I go back and call the doctor. I say, it's not going down..why?! he says, I'll ring you back in 5 minutes (i.e I have to go flip through my dictionary now and google it somemore). he calls back, saying basically "well...I don't know. Take another pill and hope for the best."
So the swelling does go down little by little (by now i've popped about 5 of those pills). But I also had to pack - i had not started at all on clearing out of my room - and do about 4 weeks worth of laundry.
So here I am at 5.38am, still looking very Asian, but at least human-ish, with bags all around me, and giant suitcase which I don't know how I'm going to lug up the bus.
Ahhhh, this is the life.
That sounds dreadful. You have my sympathy.
When you have the chance, you should probably see an immunologist, so that you can learn exactly what chemical you have the allergy to. It's information you would definitely want to know and have in your medical records, given the apparent severity of the reaction.
I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by
Milan |
6:29 AM
Oh no Rach, I hope the swelling's gone down and everrything by now, you sounded fine enough on the phone yesterday. Well that being said, I'm SO sorry but that entry was shit funny! I was practically howling in front of the laptop! =) See you soon babe.
Posted by
casablancas |
3:45 AM