Not How I Intended to Arrive
in Japan...
February 19, 2008
So what I originally thought was a lot of mosquito lovin’…and then concluded that it wasn’t consistent with the other
mosquito lovin’ in the past…and then changed my diagnosis to a case of the bedbugs turned out to be completely wrong.
Though I wish I wasn’t wrong because it turns out it’s much worse than that.
I currently have mites infesting the inside of my body. Gross to the nth degree.
I’ll be honest- there was a thought that went through my head yesterday in Australia that maybe I should go to a clinic
since the spots were changing and increasing daily. But I truly thought it was just a bedbug thing. And I didn’t want to be
that lame over-paranoid person that they makes jokes about upon leaving the office for going in for something so
insignificant.
It wasn’t until last night when I arrived to Singapore that I emailed my sister and two friends who are nurses. I was
partly serious in my email but also partly joking. I just thought that since I was forced to itch my butt for a lot of my
Perth to Singapore flight, I should try to consult some professionals. Well, Judi emailed me back and threw out a
diagnosis of scabies. Ewwww. Just the sound of the word! But then I went to WebMD and read the exact description of
my symptoms. Crappers.
So, in a nutshell, some mites managed to lay eggs inside my skin. I kind of stopped reading at that point – but I think
those eggs are now hatching. Considering the time span of it all, it sounds like this was picked up at some hostel along the
way. Which one beats the hell out of me.
Luckily an airport pharmacy was open before my flight left this morning and they had medicine that treats scabies
(always a wonderful feeling knowing that the same medicine treats lice and crabs). The medicine is supposed to work
pretty instantly but the signs of me getting better won’t be apparent for a week or so. And you’re only supposed to use it
once a week – but my natural inclination is to rub it on daily to make sure I kill the buggers. But I am going to have to
resist the urge – I’m sure there’s a good reason why they say not to over-use the stuff.
Now I’m not sure if I can do the onsen here with all the spots on my body. I don’t want to come across as the leper of
Japan.
In the meantime, I’ll just settle for a bit of relief from all of the itching!