I had an interesting doctors appointment today... bizarre is the right word!
On July 4th I helped my cousin clean raw shrimp and squeeze about 20 limes. I developed some sort of burn like formation on my right hand a few days later, known here on out as the "thing". I went to see my doctor the week after and was told that "it didn't look scary", no need to worry... My cousin developed the same sort of burn like formation and went to her doc. She was told that she had a disease that came from shellfish, a disease that is fatal to some people that are infected! Of course being the hypochondriac that I am, I called my doctor andanxiously patiently waited until she called me back later that night, I was told that it was a far fetched diagnosis and I had nothing to worry about.. I was still unsettled but figured that I'd just keep my body alert for any other weird happenings over the the next few weeks.
The "thing" burned and itched like crazy causing me to put gallons of lotion, itch cream, Vaseline, and anything else that would help. A few weeks later things still weren't looking good. Sometimes the pigment would change to a purplish color and then back to a light brown. It wasn't long before the "thing" began to peel and turn bright pink, as if it was scarring. Then to add to the "thing", my fingers begin to crack and bleed and hurt like crazy!
Last week I had had enough, I called a Dermatology Clinic that was connected to a very good hospital and made an appointment.
I saw this doctor that asked me if I liked Coronas, "say again..." I said, confused. "Do you like Coronas, the drink?", "no". He looked confused, he then asked me if I ate celery, "nope". He looked confused, again. The he asked me if I had lime? "YES!" I told him about the shrimp and lime, he was surprised and said, "wow" or something like that.
He then told me that they saw this lady come in with something similar to my "thing", she had passed out with a Corona in her hand, it spilled all over her arm and she woke up with a burn like formation on her arm.
The doctor called in the senior physician and they both looked, squeezed, rotated, and pulled. They told me that this comes from the skin of Brazilian limes. I apparently got a burn because there was some left on my hand when I went into the sun. BIZARRE! Medical term - phytophotodermatitis, which sounds fancy... but it actually means some sort of burn.
The doctors then asked me if I would mind if some other doctors came in to take a look... "sure, why not..." My room turned into a lecture room with the intern doctors trying to diagnose my "thing" and pull and pick at my arm and answer their teachers questions... that was not the end.
As I was leaving the senior doctor pulled me over to the front administration office, gathered his employees and gave them a look at the "thing" lol.
I laughed all the way to the car... Who would have thought it!
So let me just warn you... BEWARE OF LIME! Specifically the skin of Brazilian limes!
Below is a picture of my "thing", it actually looks really good here and not so ugly, this was before it was beginning to peel and scar.
On July 4th I helped my cousin clean raw shrimp and squeeze about 20 limes. I developed some sort of burn like formation on my right hand a few days later, known here on out as the "thing". I went to see my doctor the week after and was told that "it didn't look scary", no need to worry... My cousin developed the same sort of burn like formation and went to her doc. She was told that she had a disease that came from shellfish, a disease that is fatal to some people that are infected! Of course being the hypochondriac that I am, I called my doctor and
The "thing" burned and itched like crazy causing me to put gallons of lotion, itch cream, Vaseline, and anything else that would help. A few weeks later things still weren't looking good. Sometimes the pigment would change to a purplish color and then back to a light brown. It wasn't long before the "thing" began to peel and turn bright pink, as if it was scarring. Then to add to the "thing", my fingers begin to crack and bleed and hurt like crazy!
Last week I had had enough, I called a Dermatology Clinic that was connected to a very good hospital and made an appointment.
I saw this doctor that asked me if I liked Coronas, "say again..." I said, confused. "Do you like Coronas, the drink?", "no". He looked confused, he then asked me if I ate celery, "nope". He looked confused, again. The he asked me if I had lime? "YES!" I told him about the shrimp and lime, he was surprised and said, "wow" or something like that.
He then told me that they saw this lady come in with something similar to my "thing", she had passed out with a Corona in her hand, it spilled all over her arm and she woke up with a burn like formation on her arm.
The doctor called in the senior physician and they both looked, squeezed, rotated, and pulled. They told me that this comes from the skin of Brazilian limes. I apparently got a burn because there was some left on my hand when I went into the sun. BIZARRE! Medical term - phytophotodermatitis, which sounds fancy... but it actually means some sort of burn.
The doctors then asked me if I would mind if some other doctors came in to take a look... "sure, why not..." My room turned into a lecture room with the intern doctors trying to diagnose my "thing" and pull and pick at my arm and answer their teachers questions... that was not the end.
As I was leaving the senior doctor pulled me over to the front administration office, gathered his employees and gave them a look at the "thing" lol.
I laughed all the way to the car... Who would have thought it!
So let me just warn you... BEWARE OF LIME! Specifically the skin of Brazilian limes!
Below is a picture of my "thing", it actually looks really good here and not so ugly, this was before it was beginning to peel and scar.
5 comments:
That's totally bizarre!!
I know exactly how you feel with all those doctors looking and poking and prodding. Like you should get paid or something! :o)
Yeowchies! So you were like the lab rat with all the scientists poking around?
Something about the shrimp part of that story reminded me of an old episode of "The Nanny" where "Ma" had gone and eaten a lobster (not Kosher, mind you) and ended up with a severe rash on her neck...but then, I guess you would have had to have seen it, lol.
You are the new petri dish.... or at least your hand is....
well at least it wasn't FIDO-Dermatitis...right?
ha ha ha ha
(yes, I know it's supposed to be Phyto, but it's so much funnier this way!) LOL
I'm so happy for you, finally you have an answer! YAY! SO werid though huh...
LOL!!! Oh my..."do you like Coronas?" I would be worried if the good dr. was hitting on you!!! =) So glad it's not something worse!!! Thanks for the warning...no limes for me!
Post a Comment