Just when you think things are beginning to improve something happens and makes you feel as though you are back where you started from. With the warmer weather fast approaching and the amount of attacks i get at an all time low i really thought it was time for big improvements. I had planned on a fishing trip with the private fishing club that i had created with a few friends of mine. We had planned on a social get together down on our local lake to give me a chance to get out and do some fishing, the thing i love most, and also to see some of the other anglers and get together for a friendly chat and a bit of fun. The morning i was due to go i woke up in the early hours with seriously bad pain across the shoulders and top of my back and also up both sides of my neck. I could hardly move and ended up having to postpone the social fishing trip and call the doctors to make an emergency appointment to see a doctor. When i managed to get to the doctors they told me i had most likely twisted the small ligament in my neck that connects to the shoulder on the right side and wasn't much i could do apart from take anti-inflammatory medication and wait for it to fix itself. The pain across the shoulder was just the pain travelling and making it feel worst than it was so all i could do was have a hot soak in the bath and try and ease the pain and rub gel into my shoulder to try and ease it.
To top things off i have been having problems with the neighbours cats sneaking into my flat when i take rubbish out or hang washing on the line and they have been leaving fleas in my apartment. When the fleas bite me i have been having a reaction to the bites so i ended up having to rip up my carpets and soft furnishings and throw them and then get a flea bomb and fumigate the flat completely. This got rid of the fleas but suddenly all i could feel was crawling all over my body and every now and again a sharp sting like bite sensation that resulted in small red spots on my body. I started to think the flat had been infested from my carpet as i got it off a neighbour who had it in storage for over a year and had cats in the same room it was stored. I believed the fleas must have laid eggs in the carpet and that's what was hatching and going on so i had to throw it away. I couldn't work out why after treating myself and the flat and washing every bit of bedding and clothing i had at boiling temperature to ensure nothing was there, i was still getting the crawling sensation and bites. I started to think all sorts and it was driving me insane. I had spent a fortune on bug sprays and pesticides and not to mention the cost of having to now replace all the carpets in my flat and soft furnishings.
I then decided to pay my chemist a visit and explained what was going on and he stood there and laughed at me saying "i know how you feel, i have cats myself", Why on earth was he finding it so funny? He then explained that fleas can also carry viruses and when they bite you they can transfer the viral infection to you and this is what was going on. I wasn't actually getting bitten and there wasn't anything on me. i had done the right thing fumigating the flat and it was successful but i was now suffering from and infection that was attacking the nerves in my body. The small red spots were from the infection and the nerve ends and the sharp biting sensation was from the virus attacking the nerve ends resulting in a red mark on the body. He examined my body all over to make sure this was the case and told me to make an appointment wit the doctor as soon as possible. I explained ib am booked to see her a week Wednesday and he asked has the rash become worst or better. It was actually calming down so he feels that i am over the worst of it but i should still attend my appointment in case antibiotics are required as it could come back.
I just can't believe my luck and what i have had to go through over the last couple of weeks. Just when i thought things were getting so much better something had to happen and put me down. If i had cats or pets myself i could understand but to have to go through all this because of a neighbours pet is just beyond me. Well one thing is for sure i wont have to do any spring cleaning at the end of the month as my flat has never been so sterile. Not only did i do things like clothes , bedding and furniture but i bleached every floor and surface and scrubbed the entire flat from top to bottom. I placed pesticide in the cracks under the skirting boards and made sure every floor had been treated with stuff from the PDSA that will continue to kill any flea, ticks, mites or bugs for the next year. I never want to experience anything like this again as it really did make me ill. I had such a bad reaction to a flea bite i actually thought i was going to die. It seems ever since i had the Hiatus Hernia i have become allergic to some strange things that i was never allergic to before. So from now on i have to become extra careful on anything i do and hopefully as soon as the neck and back ease from all the pain i will get out and go on my fishing trip as i am really looking forwards to it. Fingers crossed it will be in the next couple of weeks.
