surgical

yesterday i technically had surgery.

it wasn't planned, and it was in a dermatologist's office. CLEARLY they don't normally do this sort of thing, as it was like a slap-stick comedy show for the ages. (i am surmising that this doctor is mostly a Botox pusher, but thankfully he didn't suggest that to me, because really the last thing I need to do is inject botulism in my skin).

anyway, after a 2-week course of steroids, which followed a shorter, lower-dosage course and over a week of super-high antihistimines, the hives are still not gone. they have morphed somewhat - they look less like mosquito bites and more like pink, slightly raised bumps (before they were shinier or something, with whiter centers). but they're still itchy as anything and super uncomfortable. they are mostly on my arms, with a few on my face/neck/back and knees/ankles. i'm a lot of fun to be around, let me tell you.

at my last chiropractor appointment, my doctor (who is super nice and concerned about more than my back, including my skin) asked if my hives make me irritable... I had to think about that. I'm a generally irritated person. I'm constantly gretchy and what-have-you. Maybe the hives are a manifestation of that irritability? But yes, I would answer that these hives DO make me even more grouchy, given the mystery of it all and the discomfort on top of my usual crankiness. i can't change much, but i can change myself and my attitude if i really try. we'll see how that goes.

anyway, my latest irritant is the surgery site itself - they biopsied a hive. gave me a local anasthetic (really worked cuz I didn't feel anything) and stuck a cookie cutter thing in my arm and cut out a CHUNK of flesh. ICK. then they had to draw blood, and the girls/nurses/whatever didn't seem to have a clue. I'm a good blood donor and usually blood flows quickly and easily, but they took three stabs, the final one in my hand, to get the blood, and even then they said it probably wasn't enough. they thought "my psyche" couldn't handle another stick so they said they would try to do the tests with what they had. i would have rather gone to a lab where people know what they're doing...

i will post pictures soon. i have to get shawn to take them. try as i might i just cannot snap a pic of the back of my right arm where the stitches are. (and i tried several times and ended up with pics of the hives w/o the stitches) i also have bruises from the blood draws... all in the name of photo-documenting my plight, garnering sympathy and satisfying the curiosity of my "gross-loving" reader(s).

3 comments:

Tria Andrews said...

poor mari! so they have no idea why you have hives?

Mari said...

they don't know what's causing the hives - although maybe the blood work or biopsy will show something... i've racked my brain and nothing ... no new soaps, detergents or anything like that...

Anonymous said...

... gives the author credit for a fair critique of her sometimes-self.

(for the love)

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