Three weeks ago my face swelled up from an allergic reaction (or something)
To what? I have no idea. As far as I know, I have no allergies.
So, after a weekend of terrible snowy weather and barely being able to see out of my eye holes, I went to urgent care first thing Monday morning. (looking like I had been in a terrible fight and gotten the shit kicked out of me!!)
The lovely Dr. there wouldn't help me because the reaction was too severe and my blood test results wouldn't come back for 2-3 days!!! (urgent care, my ass!)
So, it was off to the hospital with my sorry face...
The hospital visit was "nice". Even though there was a blizzard outside, it was surprisingly quiet and I was in and out in less than 4 hours. They gave me intravenous Benadryl, Pepcid and also Prednisone and a script for more Prednisone.
They also tested my blood to make sure I didn't have a bacterial infection or it wasn't actually my liver or kidneys. All tests came back normal.
Ultimately, without doing extensive allergy testing, I still have no idea what the hell is my problem. And, after a lot of thought, I was noticing hives and itching behind my ears for almost a month before!!
Honestly, with the seasons changing, I figured they were bug bites or something like that. So, it didn't really bother me.
Until my left eye:
And the next day, my right eye:
This is after the heavy dose of medicine at the hospital.
After the hospital, it still took 2 days before the swelling went down - I stayed home from work again Tuesday; Wednesday was questionable, but I went in anyway.
(Amusingly, they taped that image of Rocky to my computer monitor so I would see it first thing when I got back. I laughed! it was so cute. They were thinking of me...)
The next afternoon (Thursday) I went to the Dermatologist that the hospital recommended. She told me that I should be seeing an allergist... <heavy sigh> She also told me that the allergist wouldn't even be able to test me for until this flare-up has cleared :(
So... Here I am, three weeks later and the biggest change is that my face isn't swelling up any more. Mostly... :-O Last weekend, my upper lip swelled up and I looked like a Simpsons character...
On a positive note, I am being much more healthy.
Because I thought that my massive amount of drinking could be the problem and my liver was trying to tell me something (even though it tested normal) - I haven't had any alcohol for 17 days!!
(I was up to approx a 750ml bottle every other day - drinking first thing in the morning, first thing when I got home from work and then the whole rest of the evening. Weekends were a whole different story! Day Drinking... You get the picture.)
I have also been eating keto for the last two weeks. I figured, since I quit drinking I might as well quit carbs too (but that one is only temporary - my body needs fruit).
My outlook on things is still fair-to-partly-sunny, but at least it isn't 100% chance of showers any more.
One day, one step at a time is all I can ask of anyone else.
I need to start extending that same courtesy to myself.