Weekend Panic

Last weekend, I went out of town.  I needed to see at least a change of scenery so when a friend from the office invited me and some other officemates to her provincial home, I took that as an invitation for myself to relax and breathe some fresh air.

Yes, the scenery was of course green.  The air was fresh except in the sugar fields where the soil was mixed with cow dung.  The food was unlimited and free.  It was the perfect weekend.  But of course, things don't always go according to plans.

I forgot that the countryside is also full of insects.  Outside my friend's house, insects were all over the place!  I got stung and bitten everywhere.  While were all having fun, I was kinda praying that no mosquito with dengue or malaria would bite me.  The other thing is the knee-high grass.  My God, a few seconds in the field and I felt already itchy everywhere.  I'm not being maarte but I still have to go the beach the next weekend.  Who'd want to wear long-sleeved shirts and jeans on the beach to cover the bite-and-grass-itch-ridden-skin?  So I wasn't really having fun at all.

I asked one of my friends to accompany me back to the house because I badly needed a shower.  I checked myself in the mirror and God, it wasn't looking good.  I hoped that the itch would go away so I wouldn't accidentally scratch the bite marks and do more damage.  The shower helped somehow and I felt relieved.

My friend's mom already served dinner and I ate right away after I showered and changed clothes.  The food was really good especially the Paksiw na Galonggung.  After I finished one fish, I felt itchy again.  But I was enjoying the food so I somehow didn't mind the itch at all.

The next morning, when I checked myself in the mirror, I was already full of rashes and scratch marks. They look really nasty.  My skin are full of tiny red rashes with red scratch marks on top of them.  

I panicked!  I became really worried.  What if these weren't actually bite marks?  What if these are symptoms of another opportunistic disease?  I wanted to go back to Manila right away but of course, I couldn't because we'd only go back later in the afternoon.  The day went by with me pretending I was enjoying everything we were doing but in fact, not.

It was already 7PM when I arrived home.  Too late to go looking for a dermatologist.  I became really paranoid but the trip going home made me very tired that I was able to sleep right away.  I woke up very early the next morning (today), packed a few things and I headed to the Hills.

When I arrived at the Hills, I immediately went looking for Ate A but unfortunately, today's her day-off.  Kuya R was there and he checked my PPD Skin Test and declared it negative.  Indeed, the patch of skin where the PPD skin test was injected has no sign of being positive.  Dr D also checked it and said it was negative.  I am thankful I have no tuberculosis and I am glad.  But I was still worried about my rashes.

Ate E told me that HIV-positive patients have to wait until 2PM for derma.  I texted my office that I couldn't make it to work because I've got some allergies (which they've actually noticed the day before).  So I waited at the lounge.  Two guys who are living with HIV for the past 12 years were there and they interviewed me.  They managed to make me cry when they told me that I should tell my parents.  I really want to tell my parents but I can't (that's another story though). 

At 2PM, Ate R accompanied me to the Dermatology building.  The doctors were having a party so I waited until like 4PM.  The doctor asked me to strip down and she checked on the rashes carefully which became redder with embarrassment.  She interviewed me about what I did, what I ate, what soap I use, etc.  She then told me that the rashes were caused by an allergy.

I am relieved to find out that this is just an allergy and not some contagious disease.  Well, I really hope so.  And I hope that the medicine and the hypo-allergenic lotion she prescribed me are going to be effective.  I really don't care anymore if I won't be showing off some skin on the beach this weekend.  I'm just happy I'm not sick again.