Just say no to drugs!

I am posting a no picture post....whoa! I know it is shocking, but after you read this, you will understand that EVEN ME being the camera obsessed one I am, could not find it in any fiber of my being to have the sense of humor to take a picture of my face at any point in this experience...

Ok, but it is a post and it is a LONG time coming! So, here goes....

3 weeks ago, I found a lump in my armpit. Eep....not something anyone likes to discover, so I headed off the my doctor....who, I'm not real fond of, but it couldn't wait. Fortunately, the doc said it was just an infected cist and gave me a prescripiton for the antibiotic, Bactrim.

After a few days of choking down 4 giant horse pills a day, the cist started breaking up and feeling better. I finished out the 7 day dose and thought all was good.

Two days later, I was at my sister's house and started feeling some wierd stomach and back pains. I thought maybe something I ate didn't agree with me, so I dismissed it. I got home around 10 PM and by 10:30 my throat started feeling really wierd...a little itchy and like I had swollen tonsils. Since my tonsils were removed when I was 3, I knew it wasn't that. My lower jaw started feeling numb and my stomach felt worse. I thought I might just go to bed and sleep it off, but the numbness and throat swelling didn't seem "right".

I called the on-call nurse to see what she thought....she told me to go to the ER ASAP. So, it was now 2 AM and we had a sick little girl at home. I called my friend, who happened to still be up, and she drove me to the hospital. After a bunch of questions, an EKG, and some IV meds, they decided I was having an allergic reaction. I got home about 5 AM with a list of prescriptions to fill, including an Epi-pen.

The next day, my throat swelled a little more, and my stomach bloated. I was in a lot of pain and had the worst heartburn ever! I was miserable... Fortunately, it was Sat. and my hubby was home. I popped the meds and felt okay enought to go with the family to a family baptism(s) and birthday(s). On the way home, I started feeling bad again and by 11 PM I was having so much stomach pain, I could hardly stand it. I also felt really jittery and couldn't even sit still. I ended up staying up all night long until I finally mastered the heart burn, stomach cramps, and arm pain with ibuprofen. I think I got to bed finally at about 7 AM.

I woke up at one point with a swollen eye ball, tongue, and upper lip, and hives on my belly, legs and back. After the Benadry really kicked in, I kept on sleeping, getting up only long enough to take more. I ended up sleeping ALL day Sunday until that night when I staggered out long enough to have a Priesthood blessing. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep again Sunday night after the Ibuprofen helped lesen the sever arm pain that I had developed.

It took me almost two full weeks of taking steroids, antihistamines, and acid reducers to feel better. I went back to the doc and he said he was convinced it was the Bactrim. So, I now officially have a severe allergy to Sulfa based antibiotics and an allergy to Penicillins, discovered when I was a kid. Wheeeee......medicating me will be an adventure!

Good thing I have a lot of spare time to be sick, haha :)