After we got home from Best of Both, I showered off the incredible amount of trail I was wearing before cooking up a couple of hamburger patties. After eating, I went straight off to bed with an ice pack for my leg. The swelling was huge and red by this point and itched like the devil. I took a couple of Benadryl and Aleve in hopes of controlling it.
I needed to be at church early Sunday morning for choir. Since I knew I'd never be able to take a morning walk, I slept in before getting up to feed everybody and get my own breakfast. I was rather limping about. My leg really, really hurt!
At church, I limped my way up into the choir loft. My fellow choir members asked if I'd been kicked. No, stung. And it hurts. I don't recommend it.
We sing in both services these days, so I'm at church for about four hours. We are allowed to bail before the sermon in the second service once we've finished singing. Between services, I had to explain what had happened and why I was limping several times. A couple of women threatened to knock me out and take me to the ER next door. The church is across the street from UCSD Hospital in Hillcrest.
By the time I climbed back up into the choir loft for second service the swelling was down into my calf. It itched. Scratching lightly at it felt good, but as soon as I stopped it hurt worse than it had before I touched it. Sitting in the chair was becoming difficult. The seat of the chair pressed on the top of the swelling.
I left the choir loft before the sermon and tried to stay comfortable on the patio. I sat and read for a while. My son had an important meeting to attend after service, so we couldn't go home until he was done. When the service was over and I'd had enough socializing, I went to a local restaurant for a little lunch. After I'd eaten I drove back to the church to wait for my son.
I was sitting in the shade in the car, leaned back in the front seat listening to Car Talk, when I realized I was gritting my teeth. The Emergency Room was tantalizingly close. I texted my son and told him I was going to the ER.
It was the right choice. By this point I could barely bear weight on the leg. The muscles felt tight and crampy. The doctors felt it was an allergic reaction, but they were alarmed enough by the extent of it – and watching it spread during the time I was there – that they prescribed an EpiPen.
While they were asking me about my symptoms, I realized my throat had been feeling a little tight while singing. That's not normal for me. I was also feeling weak and tired. I wanted to lie down in the top of the choir loft and put my leg up on a chair.
I was also prescribed Benadryl and Prednisone. The combination has made a significant difference. I expect if I hadn't gone in, I would still be having a difficult time with this and might have progressed into cellulitis. By Monday morning I was recovered enough to take my morning walk. My leg still itched and was a funky blue purple color, but it was livable. I was even able to do my mountain bike ride and hour exercise.
I heard from my doctor's office on Monday. The blood test and ultrasound both came back negative. Very frustrating. This means we're back to the drawing board on figuring out why I'm having so much pain. This also means the time it will take until I know what's going on and get it resolved has been extended. I'll just have to keep plugging along on this incredibly boring and restrictive diet and doing what I have to do until then.
On a positive note, I've started to lose weight. Gradually, of course, but getting into the tights on Saturday was exhilarating. The tightness around my calves caused some rash on the insides of my shins, but I think that's because I put the tights over my socks. Lesson: put the socks on over the tights, not the other way around. I'm very pleased to see the numbers on the scale going down and seeing the change in the way my clothes are fitting. It only took moving to an hour and a half a day exercising to get here!
Since my escapade visiting the ER and getting an EpiPen, I've decided it's time to get a medical alert bracelet. I ordered that a few days ago. I will also need to find a waist pack of some kind in order to keep my EpiPen, inhaler, and other essentials on me. I certainly don't want to end up in a situation in which I get separated from my horse, need my meds, and he has them! Besides, I do plenty of stuff without the horse, so a method of carrying everything I need on my person is a good thing anyway.
I am also now contemplating the rest of the endurance year. I've planned to go to the Bill Thornburgh ride, which is a two day ride, but there's a three day ride at Moab the same weekend. Going to Moab instead would be a bigger undertaking, requiring me to be away longer in terms of driving there and back, but it would make up for not completing Big Bear. The next ride, however, is the very next weekend, at the Bucksnort Challenge. If I don't go to Moab, we will fall short of our goal for the year. If I go to Moab, my husband will be with me, and he will need to fly back to Louisiana within a few days after the end of the ride, which could be difficult. I will have to find out what his schedule really will be before I make my final decision.
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