Tags: Moldova, fieldwork, allergy, mosquito
Date: 06 September 2007 11:16:03
As if gracing the streets of Chisinau with my bingo wings and big bum aren't glamorous enough, today I was able to up the glamour quotient even more. I woke up early this morning, and as soon as I was awake enough to be vaguely conscious, became aware that I was having trouble opening my left eye. It didn't hurt at all, but felt swollen and heavy, and so (because I'm at my most alert at 6am and know exactly what I'm talking about) after feeling my face and deciding against Bell's Palsy I decided to diagnose myself with myasthenia gravis [As an aside, I wonder if yay and jen do this too - ever since I did nurse training every headache has become a brain tumour, every trip to the toilet becomes Crohn's, you get the picture - when I got food poisoning in Namibia I convinced myself I had amoebic dysentery, but I didn't really, I was just doolally from dehydration, lack of sleep and near constant puking/pooing]. Anyway I'm digressing. I then hauled myself off to the bathroom where I was able to satisfy myself that I didn't have a ptosis and so it probably wasn't myasthenia gravis after all (MG is a not very pleasant neurological condition where muscles don't receive the right messages from nerves so don't always do what they're supposed to - often symptoms include droopy eyes because the eye muscles aren't getting all the right neural messages) but probably an infection - it was red and swollen, in fact I looked like I'd gone a couple of rounds with Frank Bruno. But I wasn't sure about the infection diagnosis - it didn't hurt at all, and wasn't pussy, it was just uncomfortable, fluidy, red, and looked hideous (no I didn't take photos, before you ask. Even I have some standards).
Anyway, hooray that one of my organisational contacts here also features the services of an eye doctor, so I made myself an appointment and they diagnosed a severe allergic reaction following a mosquito bite. Regular readers may like to note that this is now the third severe allergic reaction following a mosquito bite that has featured on this blog, and frankly, I'm not keen to find out about the fourth [First one: Aug/Sept 2004, bite to the foot at Greenbelt, massive cellulitis, lots of antibiotics. Second one: July last year, in Romania, huge lump following bite on hip, trip to hospital for IV hydrocortisone]. Whoever would have thought that such a teeny tiny insect could do so much damage? Gah.
Must remember to Google the Russian pills they've given me. I suspect they're an antihistamine, but my Russian isn't up to reading the back of the packet.