under the magnolia tree

I just had one of the scariest weeks of my life.  It all started here.  Just moments after I took this photograph.  We were in St. Louis to visit family over Memorial Day weekend.  We went out the the farm (the family country home where large groups can gather).  It was hot.  Really hot.  We decided to fill this old pool.  Georgie wanted me to get in with him so I slipped off my flip flops and got in.  When he'd had enough I stepped out and instead of stepping on my flip flops I stepped right on a chunk of wood with a rusty nail sticking straight through it.  I flung it away and didn't think much of it.  I later mentioned it to Annela who quickly showed me the first aid kit where I promptly cleaned it and put on a bandaid.  Initially I reassured myself that surely I had my last tetanus before going to China.  Then I started to doubt myself.  I vaguely remember telling the doctors that I had just had one, it wasn't necessary.  I just couldn't be sure.  So, on the way home panic started to build and I was convincing myself that I was going to die of tetanus.  I know, it's not normal but I do a whole lot of catastrophic thinking.  I think that happens when catastrophic things happen to you once in your life.  We stopped at an urgent care where they gave me a tetanus shot.  The nail wound was small, it looked fine.  They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic in case the wound started to get red.  I never took it.  I woke up the next morning with a rash spreading all over my body.  My body was also insanely sore, like I had just run a marathon.  My joints even felt sore.   I took Benadryl, rested, and went to another party all the while feeling pretty crummy.  That night my body was so sore I thought I needed to walk it off.  I didn't last long and came in with swelling ankles.  I woke up the following morning with more sore joints in my wrists and even elbows.  I had lost all appetitie.  We started our six hour drive home.  The entire drive I watched my hands swell and the rash spread and turn very red.  By the time we got home I went to an urgent care.  They declared me having heat rash and sent me home.  By eight o'clock I was swelling even more in my hands and feet and the rash was horrible.  I just knew it wasn't right.  We went to the ER.  They diagnosed me with vasculitis and believed it had nothing to do with my vaccination.  They needed to do bloodwork.  I needed a valium and they gave me one.  How could this not be related? I was perfectly healthy before the vaccination.  How could I wake up the very next morning with all of these symptoms and it not be related?  Still, they convinced me so much that they doubted it was related that I was in full panic mode.  The initial blood work came back normal.  My gut was telling me this had to be a reaction.  They sent me home on 60mgs of Prednisone and told me to see my primary doctor right away.   The steroids seemed to help a little and I couldn't get in to see my doctor until a couple of days later.   When I did see her she just didn't know.  She tested me for every disease known then sent me to a dermatologist for a biopsy.  Meanwhile the 60mgs of Prednisone was making me insane.  I mean really insane.  I have never wanted to crawl out of my skin like I did taking that drug.  The dermatologist was wonderful, my light in the sky.  He immediately confirmed it was vasculitits, took me off the steroids, put me on Allegra in the morning and Zyrtec in the evening, overlapping the 24 hour pills.  He was reassuring that I would be fine, that it may have been a reaction to the vaccine or even bacteria on the nail....he just didn't know.  Still I waited for my results not completely convinced that I was going to be okay.  I got the results today and it all looks good.  I had allergic vasculitis.  Which I should mention really isn't a rash but capellaries breaking and spilling blood under the skin, it's a reaction to some sort of inflammation in the body.  It was horrendous to look at but now it has faded away, thankfully.  I'm just so grateful for my health, I can't tell you how scared I was that I had a serious illness.   I just needed to share and get it off my chest.  I want to forget about and move on.  Thank goodness for the joys of summer!