Skin… Who needs it?

Rash extends from my wrists to my shoulder.

March 14. It started in my left anterior area of my elbow. Just a simple reddened area. Logical answer would be heat rash. It blazing everyday and I’m constantly sweating. Just put a little baby powder on it for a couple of days and it will clear right up. Wrong. It spread and started to itch.

March 19. Gary and Wendy gave me some powder acid stuff encase it might be a fungal infection. Eww. On my arm. I start that right away. The last thing I want is fungus growing on my arm. It dry’s it out but it still itches and it’s expanding more.

I try fungal spray just to see if it helps Hydrocortisone cream and Benadryl Anti-itch cream. The itch is just to strong.

March 28. I try Calamine cream. The rash is now half way up my upper arm and half my forearm and is in my right arm now and expanding like my left.

March 31. I notice that my left knee and left upper thigh are itching. Olen prescribes Worm meds- Mebendazle, Prozequantil. If a worm starts crawling out of my skin I’m out of here.

Rash is red, raised and extremely itchy. Claw marks on
 the lateral side of my arm happen in my sleep.

April 1. Doxycycline is added to my growing medication list. That night I take a Sleep aid- Benadryl- I slept good and only woke a up couple times to scratch. In the morning when I got up I had claw marks all over my arms. Seems I can’t control my scratching in my sleep. Olen has bane me from scrubbing in on surgeries cause he doesn’t want me to contaminate any of the patients.

April 2. Over night it has jumped to my chest and neck and is creeping its way to my face. Dr. Rollin starts me on a steroid, prednisolone unfortunately there not the type that will make me bulk up.

April 3. I can take just sitting around at work scratching so I decide to take the day off and scratch at home instead. I take a walk and as soon as the sun its my skin it instantly starts to burn and itch. My sweat burns as it runs down my red, swollen, bleeding skin. I’m scanning every book I have trying to figure on what this is. And why nothing is helping. Everything I try makes it worse. That steal wool by the kitchen sink is starting to look pretty tempting but I can foresee it ending in more pain and a lot of blood and plus I need it for dishes so I refrain.

I found a bottle of Cooling Aloe sunburn relief…. You had me at cooling. I smeared half the bottle on my body and at first it stung with all my open wounds but then the cooling set in. Oh ya that’s good stuff.

Rash has reached my chest and neck.

April 24. The rash is still here. My arms are swollen but the hydrocortisone cream keeps the itch at bay. Now my legs from ankle to thigh have joined in. Claw marks that once plagued my arms are now infesting my legs.

April 28. Bronwyn thinks that I have and fungal problem and has given me a tube of fungal cream. Ewww Oh God please not all over my body. I take a shower daily how would I get a fungal infection? I guess ill try just about anything about now.  The itch is deep in my thighs. I have bruises all over cause I use so much force to scratch. I look like I’ve been beaten.

Swollen from scratching all night.

May 7. The itching redness and swelling is still present. Fungal cream didn’t do anything. Spent a couple of hours in the sun while at the river. Being in the sun exacerbates the itching so I’m still holding strong to pseudo-heat rash. I still wake in the night scratching, no clawing at myself. I’ve gone through 4 tubes of anti itch cream. Now I’ve moved onto lavender oil. Which seems to be working the best. Except for the bugs tend to stick even more to my sweaty oily body then usual.

I just need to get out of this heat. Only 9 days and ill be freezing to death in England and wishing I was back in Tchad.