Carmella's Hang Out

Thank you Mis for your message. I did get it, but was not able to write you back yet. So here is what happened!  {I wrote this earlier in the day Sunday, but am not posting it here till Monday morning at nearly one. If there is anything that says ‘tomorrow’, I probably mean Monday. heh.}

While I was out on a walk, just before nine thirty Friday night,  I felt that my right eye was a bit strange….a tad swollen. I thought I had just rubbed it a bit to hard when I was whipped my brow, so I didn’t think too much of it. However, when it got to the point that I could SEE my eye brow, I figured it was a bit more than an irritation. I quickly headed home, only to notice that my left eye was now doing pretty much the same thing….though my right eye was still much bigger. In the time it took me to get home, figure out that it was an allergic reaction to something, get upstairs to take a soda bath and try to get rid of whatever it was causing it…….my face was at swollen beyond belief.

It became hard to breathe at one point, both due to my lungs feeling as though they were full, and my mouth not being able to open very wide. Around ten, when everything we had tried failed, it was decided I should be taken to the ER. I had to be helped to the van, since my right eye was now totally and completely swollen shut, and I was only able to see out of my left eye a small bit. My ears were as though plastic, my neck twice its size, my forehead hard as rock, and my skin looked and felt like that of a woman forty years my senior.

NOT a good feeling!

The wait in the ER was not all that great either. They could not decide right away if they wanted to place me as a trauma or as acute. Finally making the call to place me as acute, due to the fact that my oxygen was at 100% and I was not longer having problems breathing, they took me to a room, got the IV needle in, and took blood. While we waited for another half hour to forty five minutes for them to bring in the meds to get rid of the swelling…..two residents were sent in by the Doc that had seen me, to take a look at the swelling!! That is how bad it was! {They both looked like they had never seen anything like it….and I had to laugh!!} When we were waiting in the ER waiting room, I figured they all thought I had been in a fight, rather than having an allergic reaction to something….and that was why we were kinda ignored. Once we were in the room, I could tell that some of the passers by had no clue WHAT was wrong with me!! I don’t think they thought I could see them either, since really, it looked like both eyes were shut, though I had no control over that. I was asked many times what happened, what had bitten me, or if I had eaten something new……all the answers being “I don’t know”!

Even now, I have no idea what caused my face to balloon.

We were not let out of the ER until after two thirty Saturday morning. Though they did not tell us at the time, and it seemed we were just left there, the doc was so concerned with how much I had swelled, that he wanted to keep me there for observation to see if it was going to come back. {By the time they started to push the meds, I could open my right eye.}

Saturday, I was to take a neigbour and my sister to Silver Leaf. It was clear, after the long wait and all the meds they had given me, that I was not going to be driving. Mum, being the sweety that she is, and knowing how much I wanted/needed to go the next day {Sam’s birthday is today and I needed to get his gift finished. Something I could only do by going} offered to once again drive us. We would be going late again, as both she and I needed sleep and also had to wait till the pharmacy opened so I could get the Rx they gave me. {I will be on Prednisone for the next few days}

When I woke up the net morning, my right eye was still half shut. The rest of my face, along with my wrists, hands, and ankles were holding water.

 

Because of this, I wore sunglass for most of the day at the festival…..though I know that looked really weird! A ‘Renaissance Lady’ in modern sunglasses. Trust me, though, it looked much better than me without them!

 

I had Tiff take a picture of me while all swollen. To put it one way….I dont look like me. Dad says I look as though I have been in a fight, and Mum said she felt she was looking at the face of her 70 year old daughter. I am not ready to post it for the world to see, but may send it to a few of you, so you can see what the ‘damage’ was of this unknown swellage! ;D

We had a wonderful day at the festival Saturday. It was a bitter sweet day, knowing that it was the last time for a very long time that we will see many of the kind, sweet, and funny people there.

While I am not going to post the photo of myself in full allergic break out, these should give you an idea of how bad it was. The first pic was taken at Faire last week. The next was taken Saturday at Faire. In the second picture, keep in mind that I am not closing my eyes at all, and I am trying to smile!

      

Two very different looking people!! {although you cant see it AS well in the pics on the computer, as when you are holding them in your hand} I am doing better now. The swelling in my right eye has gone down to almost non existant. I am still a bit puffy, my face and fingers being most affected. At least I am not in the pain I was while it was happening. Both Friday and Saturday, my hands hurt. I didnt really want anyone touching them, even though I was offered hand massages to help get rid of the pain, cause it hurt to have them touched. I have also had some pretty bad head aches since then, due to the pressure, I think. Praise the Lord, however, that I did not go in to any kind of shock. I know it was Him that helped me calm myself when, right in the middle of the reaction, I began to have a panic attack. Had I gone into full blown attack, I do believe we would have been calling 911….as the wish had already crossed my mind by then to have it called!
The doc said the swelling and other symptoms such as that would take a bit to go down. So I am not worried. Just very thankful that it was not any worse than it was….cause it was pretty scary the way it was. I went from being 22 to 70 in less than ten mintues!