Last monday, Tolstoy paid me a visit while I was in the bathroom. I gave him a quick scratch on the head and a stroke on the back and my hands immediately became itchy and red. † I figured that he’d been rolling around some stringing nettles or something of the sort – it happened before, so I didn’t really give it a second thought. Except that the itch didn’t go away. I’ve been putting steroid-based cream on my hands for the past week and it still itches like a mofo. And now, something has spread to my elbows, back of my knees and top of my feet. I went to the doc this morning and she says that this are all classic signs of eczema. Damnit, Jim, I don’t need this shit right now. The “consensus” right now is that it’s mild, and might go away by itself considering that it appeared so quickly and that I should just keep my eye on it. We’re going to wash all the bedding and keep the cats out of the bedroom for a while and see what happens. In the meantime, I *must*not*scratch*!!!!
In other news, I went for my yearly eye exam and my prescription changed, but not significantly and my eye pressure is still very good. This makes me happy.
In other other news, the gold cross that I’ve been wearing since I was 18 broke this morning and I don’t think I’ll be able to fix it. This makes me very sad :(
† Wikipedia tells me that this is dyshidrosis (aka dyshidrotic e., pompholyx, vesicular palmoplantar dermatitis, housewife’s eczema) and only occurs on palms, soles, and sides of fingers and toes. Tiny opaque bumps called vesicles, thickening, and cracks are accompanied by itching which gets worse at night. A common type of hand eczema, it worsens in warm weather.