Being taken alive! (two posts in one day!)

Yup, one singluar fruit has taken me down. A preface: I love kiwi fruit. LOVE them. And, two kiwis on WW is like 1.5 points. Easy to eat ( I cut them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon) and quite possibly, the most delicious fruit out there. And, now... mine no more!

Monday started off normally. I got to work, did some work and then said "oh, it's 10am! Time for Kiwis!!" I ate a kiwi. Felt a little funny. Thought maybe I got tickly kiwi hair in my mouth. A big swig of water. Eat second kiwi. Start to notice that lips are tingly. Throat is itchy. Itchy as in oh-my-god-stick-a-knitting-needle-down-my-ears-to-get-that-itch itchy. Then, my tongue swells.

Oh.shit.

I race to the first aid kit in the lab, take 3 antihistamines, rinse my mouth out several times. Brush my teeth and gargle with some warm water and salt... anything to make it stop.

Thirty minutes later, I'm okay. Scared, but okay.

Yesterday. Walk into lab, put on latex gloves (like every other day of my life) and get to work. Come out of lab, don't wash hands (no soap at lab sinks again!) and take off safety goggles. I have my contacts in. Probably scratch my eyes (it's still early) and poof! World is suddenly foggy and my eyes on are FIRE! Race back in lab, rinse eyes with water. Try to stay calm. Walk back to desk and pull out emergency contact lens kit from drawer. Place contacts in holder, bring saline to lab for eye rinse. This is not helping. Walk around work until 2pm with safety glasses (prescription) from 3 years ago- can't see anything. Call primary care doc, answering service says "no patients, no interruptions, no calls" today. Huh. Well, only one more place to go. The ER. (yes, i drove myself, it was only 7 exits on 128)

ER doc is great! She says most likely related to kiwi reaction on monday. Does say that something is in my eye (she washes) and it has scratched the inside of my eyelids. Ouch! Antibiotic ointment (that makes my vision blurry), steroids, and an epi-pen later, I am in business.

PC met me at the ER to drive me home (poor thing had to take a cab!) and we got home about the normal "getting home time" for us. Dinner and a nap were required before the main event of the night: a concert!














PC's all time fave band, Reverend Horton Heat, (he has their album cover tatooed on him-- talk about dedication) was in town (one show only!) and we had to go. Granted, I sat at a table in the Roxie and watched from afar (and they played so well, that I really wanted to boogie, but lack of vision was making me wary), but we were there. An awesome 1 hour 45 minute set preceeded by two bands (one I liked, one PC liked) that were pretty good... 5 hours of sleep later... I'm here at work. Blurry eyed and waiting for CVS to fill my epi-pen.

















(photo credit: unknown)
Something I learned today? Kiwi fruit is used in almost all meat tenderizer. Great.