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Against my will, I got to learn something recently.
A couple of weeks ago I failed to duck low enough when walking under some stairs and whacked my head. I bump myself often enough that I quickly forgot about the incident. A few days afterward, I started getting a big lump on my head. Then I developed chills and fever with joint pain, skin pain, muscle pain and what I presume to be tendon pain because there aren’t a lot of muscles in the hands. Just to make things more fun, I got terribly itchy as if I had dipped my head in poison ivy.
The fever came and went for a few days before I felt like it was behind me. With the fever seemingly gone, my head now feels like someone beat on it with a hammer leaving little circles of pain all over it. While we all know our hair moves in some throwback to when it was more efficient at capturing heat and signaling our emotions, we are rarely aware of it. I have been blown away by how much my hair moves in a day. It is an agony every time it does, yet it constantly does so. The swelling, pain and itchy rash have moved down from my scalp to cover my forehead and the left side of my face to my cheekbones.
Initially I thought I had hit my head hard enough to split the scalp and develop an infection, but I don’t believe that is what happened. It looks like more like I am having an autoimmune reaction to an injury.* I think the itchiness and the swelling are Koebner phenomenon where 11% – 75% (Way to narrow down the numbers, scientists!) of lucky psoriasis patients can develop symptoms that resemble psoriasis whenever their skin is injured (mosquito bites, tattoos, acne, etc). With the way I hurt myself, I can’t see this as being good news. Plus, symptoms can take anywhere from as little as 3 days to as much as 20 years to develop. Sure, that will be easy to keep track of. No problem.
In the meantime, the only way I can get through my days is with an ice bag on my head. I haven’t been able to sleep more than 3 hrs a night since this happened because the itching is so bad and it’s too painful to have my head touch a pillow.
I think what hurts the most is that my hair was finally starting to grow back. All the swelling from this trauma is likely to make it fall out again.
I really need to order a chemo hat.
*Funny since my doctor told me explicitly that I do not have an autoimmune disease.
You should have my fur instead. It is glorious!
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If you would like to see what Geordie and Toby do when they aren’t bringing me ducks, check out a copy of Dream Our World. Inside the boys explore the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.
Dream Our World and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 
Oh boy, that sounds awful. Hopefully it will subside soon. I didn’t know that our hair moves,, that’s kind of creepy! Take care of yourself and rest. Tell toby to be good!
Thanks for the good wishes. Toby says, “Ha!” to the thought of him being good. 😆
This is just awful…I wish I had any suggestions to help. The only thing Leo’s illnesses have taught us is to be very chary of doctors’ pronouncements. False diagnosis leading to a coma, more false diagnoses leading to unhelpful and painful treatment….you name it, those medical mobsters have done it.
I suspect that whatever is going on with me is beyond my doctor’s experience. Poor Leo. I’m glad he’s had you to help him through all of this. ❤️
And you have Toby. It annoys me when a doctor knows he is out of his depth but just keeps on doing what he is doing…
So true. Unfortunately the wait to see a specialist is so long you pretty much have to figure things out by yourself.
Not a problem in the U.K., nor in France nor here in Costa Rica….the problems start when you do see them….
😂
For you:
😂😂😂. Hey Max, was that you walking with the unicorn?
Thank you Max’s Daddy. A balloon suit might turn out to be a good option for me. 😆
My gut response is just to give you a Big Long Hug, probably the worst possible reflex. But prayers are better than hugs anyway, and won’t hurt you a bit! I’m deluging you in them. 🙏🏼 🙏🏼 🙏🏼 🙏🏼
Ha! I’ll take the hug. 😊. I read that this response will often go away spontaneously after two weeks. I’m getting close to the two week mark, so I might feel better pretty soon.
(God is going to wonder why I got so popular all of a sudden! 😂)
😂
SENDING YOU VERY BIG HUGSSSS I REALLY FEEL FOR YOU !!
SINCE MY STROKE I BANG MY HEAD LOTS. THE LEFT-SIDE NEGLECT IS PARTLY RESPONSIBLE BUT I LIVE WITH A STATE Of LIGHT CONCUSSION OFTEN ! PART OF MY SKULL WAS TAKEN APART TO RELIEVE PRESSURE AND I HAVE A HUGE CRATER AND HOLE AND ALOT OF METAL HOLDING IT TOGETHER NOW. I GET THE ITCHES AND WE THINK IT IS A REACTION TO THE METAL UNDER THE SCALP ! TITANIUM IS SUPPOSED TO NE NON REACTIVE BUT ITS ME !! I NEVER CAN DO THINGS NORMALLY !
I DONT HAVE THAT RASH BUT I KNOW THE STRESS FROM HEAD INJURIES IS HUGE AND THAT TOO COULD BE ADDING TO YOUR RASH ?
I FEEL FOR YOU I ALSO DO HAVE A HELMET I DONT WEAR IT CEPT OUTSIDE AROUND TREES !
TRY WHITCH-HAZEL TO RELIEVE THE ITCHING
HAIR THEY SHAVED ALL MY LONG RED HAIR OFF THAT NIGHT. STILL WAITING FOR THE HAIR TO GROW BACK PROPERLY SIGH
BIG HUGSSS
I have been wearing loose-fitting hats, but my head hurts so bad that even a barrette is agony. I don’t think I could handle a helmet right now. Do you at least have a pretty one to make wearing it less stigmatizing? Witch hazel and ice have been life savers this week. Hydrocortisone does absolutely nothing.
I wish I could give you your hair back! Castor oil and rosemary oil have been helping a lot. (I’d be afraid how your body might react to them, though!)
NO NOT PRETTY JUST A PLAIN BLACK CYCLE HELMET THE PROBLEM HERE IS THE DREADFUL HEAT IN SUMMER MEAN I CANT WEAR IT AT ALL . I JUST WEAR A COTTON SUNHAT AND NO-ONE TO SEE JUST THE DEER AND POSSUMS AND FACOONS AND ARMADILLO !! AND THE BUTTERFLIES !
I ALWAYS KEEP A BOTTLE OF EITCH-HAZEL IN THE FRIDGE INSTANT COOL ! I USE ESSENTIAL OILS ALOT CANT LIVE WITHOUT LAVENDER OIL BUT SCALP IS TOO SENSITIVE TO USE IT MUCH .
HANG IN THERE LADY LOVE AND HUGSSS
PAM
I never thought to keep the witch hazel in the fridge. Thanks for the great idea!
Oh, my gosh and golly! This sounds so awful! 😮 😦 I am so so SO sorry to hear about all of this! 😦 I hope all heals and you feel better soon. It’s a bummer when our own docs don’t understand or agree with what is probably actually going on. 😦
I’m sending (((HUGS))), healing thoughts, and love your way! Please keep us updated. We care about you! Ooh…Cooper just said he is sending you some Cooper-KISSES! 😛 (Yes, there is tongue and licking involved! 😉 😀 )
(((HUGS))) ❤️❤️❤️
PS…Toby your fur IS glorious!!! 🙂
Thanks Cooper! Puppy tongue kisses are definitely healing. 😊
I am so sorry to hear how awful you are feeling. I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you. (I hope I feel better soon too. )
Hey, you have a new avatar! Looks like you’re having fun! 😊
You are welcome. After I gave myself a concussion by running into the side of my RV, one of my retirement gifts was two bump cap inserts. They fit inside baseball caps. Bruce wears his all the time and is grateful for the protection as it has saved his head several times. I only wear mine when I am doing things around the RV. You may not be able to wear one now, but once you recover, maybe it would work for you.
I thought it was time to update my avatar. I love trains and that I got to sit in the engineers seat on a train engine made my day!
I hadn’t known about bump cap inserts. That is good to know. With my condition, though, any bump or mosquito bite could cause this reaction. I need protection for everywhere now. 😆
Speaking of trains, I just watched the movie Unstoppable. That was one scary story! 🚂
I haven’t seen that movie. I just read the plot. I have to agree, that was a scary story and it was based on a true story!
oh my gosh. I just saw this – you are a hot mess! I’m so sorry this crap keeps happening to you!
Aw, thanks for caring!