My First Allergy Scare

1. Normal evening. Just looking for some things for my bookbinding project.
2. Yes, I know. It's just a hobby I picked up somewhere. How quaint.
3. Anyway, I finally found the wax, the threads, the crafting needles, and some bookbinding sticky tape. Found them stashed in of 'em plastic stackable cases. I put them away to a container I frequently use, expecting to do them the next time I'm free. I had to go to bed early as I am on shift the next day.
4. In hindsight, those stackable cases were pretty dusty. Note to self: clean them later. Need some goggles and a facemask next time I do any cleaning around the house.
5. As we finished preparing for bed, I turned off the light. It was pitch black all of a sudden. It has to be, so my son can sleep sooner than later.
6. By this time, my nose was beginning to get really stuffy. I thought nothing of it at the time, recounting my dusty encounter with while looking for my things. My wife decided to get me some stuffy nose meds and water to help clear it up.
7. Shortly, my eyes have become unbearably itchy. I went out the room to get the eyedrops we have in the fridge, drop some on my eyes, then returned to bed.
8. It helped, but besides the slight relief, my eyes are still bothering me a lot. I decided I should get another dose of the eye drops.
9. I went to the toilet first though as it I really needed to pee. Turned the lights on, and saw my face. Holey sheet! My eyes were all puffy and swollen! I got the eyedrops again. Then went back.
10. Told and showed my wife, we decided to go to the nearest hospital, NUH.
11. For a while, I had this silly notion that the eyedrops would work just fine, even though my face was really swollen. First time I had that. Denial I guess.
12. My face reminded me of the vampires in Buffy and Angel. You know, the prosthetic makeup / whatever on the forehead and around the eyes of the vampire actors to make them look, you know, vampirey. Hehehe.
13. Decent clothes checked, phone checked, money checked, and so is my IC. (Never forget your IC!) Thankfully, a taxi was just unloading some passengers close by. I had to run there though, before he drives away. We got the cab and we got in.
14. I'm still relaxed for someone in my state, I guess; eyes nearly getting closed, breathing becoming more difficult. The taxi ride was thankfully a short one.
15. By the time we got to the ENI, I was still pretty calm, my mouth was open because my nose already closed up. I can no longer breathe through my nose.
16. The nurse there offerred me a wheelchair but I declined. I can still walk, I just can't breathe. In hindsight, another silly idea on my part. That was my chance to finally sit on a wheelchair! Damn! Missed opportunity again. Hehehe
17. Seriously though, I had to keep my mouth open most of the time. A bit tough for me to talk to the nurses when they examined me. They thought that I got this from taking paracetamol. Good thing the missus was there to check what the nurses were typing in my records.
18. I wonder what would life be like if I actually am allergic to paracetamol? It's the most common meds for the most common ills. With that out of the picture, I wonder what else I could take?
19. Just to backtrack a bit. In the NUH Emergency Room, there are some steps: Step 1: temperature check. Step 2: registration and payment (S$100 standard cost). Step 3: Triage (nurse's initial assessment). Step 4: Consultation with doctor (wait for queue number to be called; waiting time that time was 2 to 3 hours). Step 5: Pharmacy and payment of any remaining balance.
20. In my case, though, I didn't have to wait for my queue number to be called in Step 4. I guess they figured this was already an emergency. They said my BP is quite high. 195/105 or something. I guess that's one effect of not being able to breathe! So from Triage, I went straight to what looks like an ER. Lots of nurses and patients in varying ages, shapes, and conditions.
21. The nurses back in Triage offered me to sit on the wheelchair but I declined again! Oh well, I'll never get to sit on a wheelchair this round I think.
22. Back to the story: in that ER, I lied down on one of them fancy hospital beds. It was getting cold so the sheets were a welcome sight.
23. Nurse gave me six tablets. No idea what they were, they just told me antidote to the swelling and allergies. I'm guessing it's some form of antihistamine. (Thank you, Dr. House! Hehe)
24. I felt the immediate effect of the tablets. The itch around the eyes disappeared. And my nasal passages have opened up a bit. Big relief!
25. Shortly, they told me they will give me a big dose of anti-allergy meds via injection. They said it will be extremely painful so it had to be done on the bigger muscles: the thighs.
26. It's been a while since I got pierced with a needle. First thing that popped in my mind was when I gave a bag of blood for my mother almost a decade ago. The next one that I remember were a series of vaccine shots I got from the local clinic. I was jobless at that time, so I figured it was a good time as any to get myself some shots. Yep, never been vaccinated before. That was my first time. Hehe. All of my previous needles were on the arms or shoulders. Never on the thighs. I wonder what it would be like...
27. Okay needle's in. I've had bigger needles stuck on me. It was fine. But when the nurse pressed the meds in. Ooooh... It's like acid eating away your flesh from the inside. Yeowchies! Well, they did say it was painful...
28. Besides the irritating pain on my leg, I feel a lot better. I can now close my mouth as I can now breathe again through my nose. No more itchy eyes. And the swelling has hone down a bit. I was taken to some kind of recovery room. Recovery room had 10 slots, I was in number 5. Doctor told me to rest there until morning, as the antidote I took has that lovely drowsiness effect. Not sure what they were talking about. I was up and lively.
29. Then again, it just might be the fact that I haven't peed yet for the last few hours. Missed my chance at #9 above.
30. Good. Peed my worries away. The bed feels a lot softer and more comfortable afterwards. Still not sleepy though. I brought out my phone and used up all my energy in Marvel WoH and I started blogging about this rather fascinating experience.
31. And just like that it was morning. 6:30. I must have dozed off into a deep, dreamless sleep. I remembered I'm supposed to go to work today. Sent SMS to my boss and to my shift partner, then emailed the rest of the team regarding my MC.Thank God for Mobile Technology!
32. I was discharged shortly. They gave me a one-day MC, a referral letter to the NUH Dermatology Clinic for follow-up (this seems to be a common practice here), and a prescription slip which I am to take to the Pharmacy (aka Step 5). I hauled my butt off of bed and went straight there. A little anxious as it's really cold and it's raining really hard outside.
33. Got my medicine from pharmacy. Got 42 tablets of prednisolone (looks like the same one I got earlier in #23) and 10 tablets of loratadine. A quick wiki search says they're anti-inflammatory steroids (yikes) and antihistamine for the allergies, respectively. I have to take 1loratadine and 6 prednisolone in the morning after meal.
34. I was quickly on my way to the Kent Ridge MRT. I could have been there sooner if I didn't get lost! :)) It was my first time through the NUH grounds so I got to see a lot of eating places before I got to the taxi stand and the MRT.
35. Got home quickly and nicely. Once I'm in bed I dozed off immediately. I woke up past 12 noon.
36. A lot of things happened after that, but that is a story for another time. :)