Monday, October 15, 2007

Allergic to Work

I experienced a most curious response to my first case this morning. Walking into the treatment area of the Clinic, I was greeted by the local 'Wildlife Rehab' guy and a recumbent fawn. He had recently picked up the baby; it had been hit by a car, was hypothermic, non-responsive and had a badly fractured jaw. The humane decision to euthanize her was made. Minutes after placing my hands on her for the exam and injection, I started gut-wrenching sneezing, then my face-neck-arms and hands broke out in intensely itchy welts, one eye lid swelled, as did my eye ball itself; my cornea looked like a jelly filled balloon, my throat was constricting and my chest tight. The tech searched the hospital for antihistamines and finally found some just as I was thinking I'd have to give myself an injection of diphenhydramine (benedryl). She assured me that she would have intubated me or tried a tracheotomy if I had stopped breathing. WOW... was that supposed to be reassuring??? Several hours later I looked almost normal again. Took meds a couple times during the day. Now I am ready to get to bed after showering tonight and started feeling it coming on again. I had to tear the place apart looking for allergy pills, I finally found a bottle out in my Tahoe. I'll sit up and wait for them to take effect. I wonder what it was that set me off? Very strange. A fawn allergy?

We spent the weekend house shopping again, with very discouraging results. It is amazing the number of properties on the market. We had a list of eight to drive by but looked at more than twenty. There are For Sale signs everywhere. None a match though. The search continues......

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure hope you are all better now! Quite scarry, need to have those pills handy at all times.
Could it have been something on the fawn or the guy who brought the fawn in? To bad you couldn't have taken a sample off the fawn's hairs and had it analyzed, to see just what it was that got to you so bad. So next time you are near a fawn you will know, if you need to watchout or if it was something else that got to you and not the fawn.

Jenn said...

I've had that swollen-like-a-balloon eyeball thing happen...it looks awful and feels awful and is just gross.

I would have to imagine there was something on the fawn that created the reaction...maybe poison oak juice or something? What a way to spend the day!

amy said...

Well, you know what they say about Bambi's Revenge....

No? Neither do I :)