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What Else Could They Be
Aug. 12th, 2014 06:52 pm“I would like to biopsy one of your spots to make sure that we are actually dealing with hives.”
The way my dermatologist stressed the word hives, made my blood run cold. I had been dealing with Urticaria, as the doctors called it, for several years. The problem had started small. In 2002, I developed a spot in the middle of my forearm that was an itchy red ring. Honestly, I thought I had contracted ringworm somehow. Within a few hours, the sharply ridged ring had given way to a completely raised circle that itched terribly. The next day, it was gone.
After that, I didn’t think much of it until two more showed up, in the same area, a week later. For about six weeks, I dealt with this itchy rash that would come and go and was spreading to my torso. I went to a doctor on a particularly bad day. He told me I had hives and scheduled me to see a dermatologist who couldn’t see me for another four months. The next week, they were gone. I never followed up.
It was 2005 before they came back again. For three years I dealt with the slow ramp up from once or twice occasionally to looking like a diseased person every single day. My arms, torso and legs were so covered in itchy hives constantly, that it became a way of life for me. It was crazy. People who didn’t know, would see my arms and ask what was wrong with me in a shocked voice as they would step away.
At different times, I took Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec. I took combinations of several of the drugs. Nothing helped. If it was particularly bad, a Benadryl would take the edge off at night so that I could sleep. I couldn’t live on Benadryl, so I only took it occasionally. By spring of 2008, I had had enough. I saw my physician, an allergist and finally, a dermatologist. I wanted answers.
“Oh my goodness, Kelly!” My mother sounded anxious that evening after calling her to talk about my appointment. “What does the dermatologist think it would be besides hives. A biopsy, that sounds big.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“How could you not ask?” She was dismayed.
“Honestly, Mom, I don’t even want to know.”
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This is my entry for LJ Idol: S9 Week 17. This week’s topic was [“Scare Quotes”]. I never really got my answers. The biopsy came back hives. By the fall 2008, after a house fire and quitting my job they faded away. I believe they are stress related. They came back in November 2009 and they are only just faded away this spring. The first batch were 6 weeks, second, 3 1/2 years, third over 5 years.
The way my dermatologist stressed the word hives, made my blood run cold. I had been dealing with Urticaria, as the doctors called it, for several years. The problem had started small. In 2002, I developed a spot in the middle of my forearm that was an itchy red ring. Honestly, I thought I had contracted ringworm somehow. Within a few hours, the sharply ridged ring had given way to a completely raised circle that itched terribly. The next day, it was gone.
After that, I didn’t think much of it until two more showed up, in the same area, a week later. For about six weeks, I dealt with this itchy rash that would come and go and was spreading to my torso. I went to a doctor on a particularly bad day. He told me I had hives and scheduled me to see a dermatologist who couldn’t see me for another four months. The next week, they were gone. I never followed up.
It was 2005 before they came back again. For three years I dealt with the slow ramp up from once or twice occasionally to looking like a diseased person every single day. My arms, torso and legs were so covered in itchy hives constantly, that it became a way of life for me. It was crazy. People who didn’t know, would see my arms and ask what was wrong with me in a shocked voice as they would step away.
At different times, I took Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec. I took combinations of several of the drugs. Nothing helped. If it was particularly bad, a Benadryl would take the edge off at night so that I could sleep. I couldn’t live on Benadryl, so I only took it occasionally. By spring of 2008, I had had enough. I saw my physician, an allergist and finally, a dermatologist. I wanted answers.
“Oh my goodness, Kelly!” My mother sounded anxious that evening after calling her to talk about my appointment. “What does the dermatologist think it would be besides hives. A biopsy, that sounds big.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“How could you not ask?” She was dismayed.
“Honestly, Mom, I don’t even want to know.”
-------------
This is my entry for LJ Idol: S9 Week 17. This week’s topic was [“Scare Quotes”]. I never really got my answers. The biopsy came back hives. By the fall 2008, after a house fire and quitting my job they faded away. I believe they are stress related. They came back in November 2009 and they are only just faded away this spring. The first batch were 6 weeks, second, 3 1/2 years, third over 5 years.
