i'm not alone!

I went and got my hair done (you know it's time when a friend asked if you dyed your hair darker...oops) and while I was there Sonya, my hairdresser for going on 6 years now?, and I caught up. I was telling her all about my crazy back and she immediately said there was a girl that worked there that had phytophotodermatitis as well! Small world. 

As I was checking out, Cat, the fellow allergic to sun person, and I were talking and her's is way worse than mine. Apparently she can't even drink anything with citrus if the sun is shining, and I think she said she has to avoid citrus for 24 hours after being in the sun. Crazy. Her last burn she said was on her wrist and it turned into a 3rd degree burn. I think I'm lucky I was in the sun for as little time as I was. The worst, oh man I cringe just thinking about it, she was in Cancun and was walking out of the pool with a glass full of tequila and another glass full of lime juice and she tripped and fell and it got ALL over her. At this point she had no idea what was causing these burns and she stayed out at the pool and her entire body was covered in burns because she had spilled her juice. Man that sucks.

At least now I know what I have wasn't just made up by doctors trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

back update #2

People have been asking about my back, so I thought I should do a quick update. Things are MUCH better! It is only a little irritated when I'm running because my sports bra rubs against 2 spots, but nothing too terrible. None of the spots are still raised which is also great. The skin is starting to peel, so instead of a dark brown color, it's now an awesome dark brown ring around bright pink spots. Here are some before and current back pictures.

First day I took a picture of my back

Eric wanted to take a picture of my back last night. He was pretty amazed...or grossed out. Not sure which.

Here's what my back currently looks like.

It still looks crazy, but I'm just glad my back feels so much better! Now I just need my back to not look gross. Sadly I am officially done with water and laying out for the rest of the summer.

back update

My mom was awesome enough to come up from Houston and has dutifully rubbed cream on my back 3 times a day, cleaned my apartment, done laundry, reached for things when I couldn't, basically she has been awesome. As the days have passed the coloring in my back isn't as firey red as it was, and the pain has decreased. Don't get me wrong. It's still pretty crazy looking and it still stings some, itches some, and sometimes is a little painful. It just feels more like a sunburn than actual pain which is great. As I write I am currently sitting back (probably not for too long though)! Something I haven't done since last Sunday!

My insane amount of supplies. Cream, antibiotics, 2 different pain meds, latex gloves, and gauze pads. (The box on the right are leftovers from when my dad was shot! I was surprised those didn't disintegrate when we touched them.)

Today I went to the dermatologist to see what he would say and make sure I was doing everything I should be. Since things were getting...better, I wasn't sure what all he would say other than keep doing what you're doing. When my doctor saw it he said it wasn't a staph infection, it was phytophotodermatitis. Excuse me, what?! Apparently it's when something, like citrus fruits, or celery, or other random things, touch your skin and then are exposed to the sun they can break out into a "rash." It shows up within 24 hours, check, and the reaction peaks at 48-72 hours, check.

My friends had been checking in on me, and several knew I had a doctor appointment today. When I told them what it was they were cracking me up with their responses. 

Emily: I googled it and you may have some in contact with some bad celery. You really shouldn't rub root vegetables on your body.

Sarah: Were you in the same pool as the dead guy? You should make your apartment pay for your medical bills. Also stop using the dead man's pool.

Angie: Well who the heck is trying to kill you by squirting your back towel full of juice?!

So basically it's going to take quite a long time for the redness and rash spots to fully go away. He said I could start running again, but I need to make sure to not work out past my discomfort in my back. So probably no Crossfit for another week or so. I'm just glad I know what it is now. I guess this means no more laying out for awhile. And no more swimming in the dead man pool.

i've always wanted to ride in an ambulance

Before I get into the explaining, there are some gross pictures of my back. This is your warning so you aren't allowed to complain about the gross pictures.

I need to back up to Sunday to explain what happened yesterday. I went out to the pool on Sunday and was laying out for about an hour, not too long. That afternoon I looked at my back and it looked like a sunburn, but it was patchy, so I wasn't sure it was a sunburn. Ever since then it's gotten redder and more painful. It's been so painful I haven't been able to sit back or put any pressure on it since Sunday. I was with some friends Tuesday night and they were really worried about it and said I needed to go to the doctor. We tried googling it too, but couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Tuesday night

 Wednesday night. The white stuff is the cream.

Yesterday, Wednesday I was able to get a doctors appointment in the morning which I was glad about. When the doctor came in she looked at it and said it could be shingles but probably not because shingles sticks to one side of your back. She then said she was going to touch it, I don't really know why. She decides she wants to touch the worst spot super hard, and I have literally never felt so much pain in my life. When she stopped touching it it felt like all my nerves were still on fire. 10 seconds later I tell her I'm feeling really light headed and the next thing I know I'm laying down on the table and she's asking me what my name is, what year it is, and where I am. (The doctor at the hospital said when you are in excruciating pain like I was you can literally pass out from the pain. That's what happened to me.) She was also super panicky in her voice which was really helpful for me and my nerves. At this point they're giving me oxygen, IV's, checking my blood pressure, checking my sugar levels, etc.

I started feeling better and about 10 minutes later I tell the nurse I am insanely hot. She said that was normal-I don't believe her-and she starts fanning me off. I then start to feel like I'm going to pass out again and tell her this and she starts kicking the door to get another nurses attention to get the doctor. The doctor takes my blood pressure again and it was 70/30! She starts almost yelling for crash cart cardio sensors or something, and then said call 911 we need an ambulance here now. WHAT?! At this point I think the only reason I didn't pass out again was because I was trying to pay attention to everything she was saying. 

The EMS guys come and get me on a gurney and at this point I'm feeling pretty ok. Scared, but ok. When we got into the ambulance the EMS guy said he would take my picture so I could put it on facebook. I also asked if it was a free ride since I was a teacher and we were LITERALLY going across the street. No joke. Across the street. I should have just walked. I get to the hospital and they put in an IV and a second one with an antibiotic, take tons of blood, and two different doctors come in to look at my back. They said the fainting had nothing to do with my back, it was just I vaggled or something from the pain. All of my blood tests were totally normal, and he said he thought it's a sunburn that got a staph infection. He said if it doesn't get better in 3-4 days I need to go see my dermatologist. I have antibiotics I have to take, cream to put on my back 3 times a day, and they gave me pain meds to take as needed. 

All in all I wouldn't have had to go to the ER if that first doctor wasn't an idiot and pushed my back so hard. My mom is here and she's going to stay until my back is better so she can put the cream on. My back still hurts, of course, but hopefully the pain meds will help with that. And that, is my insane story about what happened to me yesterday.