This is absurd

I had to call my primary care doctor this afternoon, after my surgeon/ob-gyn who did my hysterectomy took a look at my body and and said, "I have never seen anything like this," and "we may have to readmit you to the hospital if this gets any worse" and "we need to go through your primary care doctor to get you into a dermatologist."

Oh holy hell, I don't even know where to start with this story.


By Tuesday morning, there were red dots all over my feet and hands, which is when the doctor said I was allergic to Augmentin. He switched me to Ciprofloxin, and told me to take Benadryl every four hours.

Yesterday morning, I woke to arms and legs covered with what look like measles, and hands and feet swollen and feeling like there are on fire, and covered with huge round spots that were overlapping each other.

The OB-GYN's office agreed to squeeze me in to see my doctor, even though I had seen him the day before, and that's when he said, "WOW." And all the other stuff at the beginning of this. He gave me a script for a steroid pack and told me to go get it filled right away and to call him and my primary care doctor if there was no improvement by morning.

I filled the steroid script, and then (LIKE AN IDIOT) drove to my office for the first time in two weeks, where I worked for three hours, before I realized my feet were f**king purple. PURPLE.

I called the primary care doctor.

The nurse said my primary care doctor is Central America with some other doctors on a medical relief trip. I tell the nurse what is going on with me and she says, "YOU NEED TO COME HERE. NOW. RIGHT NOW. One of the other doctors needs to see you right now."

I arrived at the office, and the nurse for the new doctor (who might be 30, maybe, but he looks 17) - anyway, the nurse looks at my feet and legs and says, "Wow. What is...? What HAPPENED TO YOU?"

I tell her the story, and she says, "I'll go get him. He's gonna need gloves." (My feet are swollen and covered with round raised blisters that look like bull's eyes. It is horrifying. It also feels like my feet are on fire.)

Then my mom arrived. (Because, yes, evidently, I am 12, and when I feel lousy, I want my mom, so I had called her on my way to the office.) My mom was freaked out by my feet, legs, arms and hands. (Did I mention that this horror is on my hands as well? Not nearly so bad as my feet, though.)

When the Doogie-Howser-doctor came in, to both my mom and my surprise, he sat down next to my foot and picked it up - totally without gloves. "I've seen this before," he said.

I said, "what is it?" and he said, "It's an extremely serious allergic reaction to Augmentin and sulfa drugs. Can you breathe okay?"

CAN I BREATHE OKAY???? CAN I BREATHE OKAY??? Not so much when you are looking at me like it is a real possibility that I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO BREATHE OKAY SOMETIME SOON."

I think I'm going to hyperventilate," I said.

"Don't," he said.

Then he told me that he hopes the steroids can block more damage, but that some damage has already been done, and it's going to get worse before it gets better, and that probably the skin on my feet is going to start to peel off. And then he numbed part of my leg and cut out a section of one of then newer hives/bumps to send it to be biopsied in case he is wrong about this being an allergic reaction.

I am supposed to take Benadryl every four hours and the steroids and keep my feet elevated and call if the swelling doesn't start to go down.

The irony of this is that the actual part of my anatomy directly affected by my hysterectomy (the lap incisions/my abdomen) - is one of the few places on my body that isn't really, really sick right now.