Saturday 2 August 2008

Yes, I definitely have allergies...

**********WARNING... GRAPHIC PICTURES.... PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! ****************************
(If Allergic reactions don't bother you, continue on...)

So, in my various thoughts about moving, one idea that came to me was the thought of getting a pet, most likely a cat, to help keep me company when I move so far from friends and family. I do know that over the years I've had some mild reactions to the family cats, but nothing to really drive me crazy. A hive here or there, eyes getting itchy for a bit...
But this morning... I let someone come cuddle in my lap (nothing unusual)... She's cute, she cuddles only once in a while, so I try to encourage the rare good behaviour. After about half an hour, no real issues, I moved on to phone a friend. In the course of our conversation, my eye started getting itchy, as it sometimes does if a cat scratches me or if they've been licking me, none of which had occured this morning. So I rubbed my eye (please note, I had not washed my hands after petting the cat). The more I rubbed, the more it itched, and the more I rubbed. Horrible cycle. Finally, when I got off the phone, I went to see what it looked like, and was a little disturbed. Enough to throw a few allergy eyedrops in my eye and call my friend back and get her advice! My lower eyelid was swollen, my whole eye was pink, and there was a bubble of fluid beside my cornea! The bubble is what really freaked me out. We discussed and decided that it was probably just an allergy, and considering how swollen it was I should probably go with some benadryl pills to get it into my system as well. This is taken about 10 minutes after the benadryl... believe it or not it looks better than at the start:
I'm hoping my eye is less noticeable before I head to the park with my family! I'm also hoping the rain stops, but really, I'd be willing for one or the other.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well Heather, Join the club. I LUV cats, but my response is similar to yours. I can no longer bury my face in their fur without something similar happening. Of course this also means washing my hands after petting them. After I left home is when I first noticed this allergy(I'd always had a cat at home). At first I couldn't be in the same room with one, but over the years I've "progressed" to the situation described in sentences 2&3. It's a bummer.Yer aunt L