Yup. This is what my life has been for the last 14 weeks. Full of rash. Not the cool Rush Rash, but yucky, itchy, all over my body rash. The moves and crops up in different places just when I think it's gone.
It started in February when I went to the doc because I thought I had strept throat. I went in on a Monday- the rash was starting at that point, and Maury thought that it was because I had strept. Wednesday, I wasn't feeling better so I went back. He took chest x-rays looking for pneumonia but didn't find any- told me to come back Saturday if I didn't feel better. By Saturday, I couldn't walk the distance from our couch to the kitchen without stopping for a rest. I couldn't breathe. I almost passed out in the shower before going to the clinic. Maury took another chest x-ray to find my heart enlarged. He told me to take at least the next week off and was sending me to a cardiologist.
I went in for an echo-cardiogram on the next Monday, the cardiologist read my results and admitted me right then and there. He said I had pericardiosentesis. They sent me to the cath lab that night and drained 700ccs of fluid from my heart. People. That's 3 cups of fluid. THREE FREAKING CUPS. The staff in the cath lab were awesome. Truly. Ursula, one of the nurses, gave me some awesome meds that didn't let me remember that this procedure wasn't a super fun one. Plus, Dr. Doucette, the cardiologist who did the procedure, was super nice. I never got to tell him thank you because I think I was "under" when he finished. The nurses and I took a selfie with the bag of fluid- they really were great- and they rolled me back up to my room to see The Fast One and my family. I felt so much better, although it felt like someone had punched me in the chest.
I stayed in the hospital for two nights. While I was there, Dr. Hashisaki, an ifectious disease doctor, was looking at the rash that had formed between my belly button and my knees. Everyone was freaking out because they thought it was measles. Nope. Not measles. After I got out of the hospital, Dr. H saw me multiple times trying to figure out what caused the pericarditis, and the rash. Finally, he thought that the pericarditis was caused by an adenovirus. The rash was another story.
Tons of blood draws, tests run. Predinsone taken, zyrtec taken. A trip to the allergist to find out that I'm "not allergic to anything". At this point were going on 13 weeks of an itchy rash covering 90% of my body. Maury prescribed Zyrtec twice a day along with Ranitadine, and said, what do you think of seeing a dermatologist? To which I replied, I'll try anything. I can't live the rest of my life itching.
A week an a half later, I"m in Dr. Allison Hughes' office. In 5 minutes she told me I had viral psoriasis. There's a shot that fixes that people!!! Which I started last night. Finally. a light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Huges says that I'll have to do the shots for 3-6 months. I can't wait to be back to normal.
