I really enjoyed the island of Tioman in Malaysia. It's basically your stereotypical tropical island, with super clear water and nice beaches. It was way fun to go snorkeling, because the ocean water was as clear as swimming pool water. The thing I didn't like about Tioman, was that I got sick part way through.
My brother ordered squid for dinner on Friday night. I thought it would be cool to try it, so I took a little bite, nothing big, more like a nibble really. I woke up Saturday morning with hives on my wrists but didn't notice them for a little bit, they weren't that obvious. When we did notice them, we didn't think it was any reason to worry, so we didn't. Saturday passed, and I started swelling up. My hands got so swollen I couldn't move my fingers more than a few centimeters. My lip also swelled. My feet swelled so that it hurt to walk at all. Hives were breaking out all over my body, and I itched like crazy.
We (my parents) did a little research on hives and found that it could be fatal if my neck swelled up and I suffocated. We weren't sure exactly what to do. If we were at home, I would go to the emergency room, but we were on a tropical island, a 4 hour boat ride away from civilization. Then we learned there was a small clinic on another part of the island. Sunday afternoon we decided that I had better go there. It was a short 10 minute water taxi ride away. The clinic was closed on Sundays, as we found out when my dad and I arrived. We figured it was and emergency, so my dad looked around until he found someone who could help. It turned out to be a paramedic. He took us inside and looked me over. He started preparing some shots and an IV line to give them to me. I was so swollen, however, that he could not find a vein to put in the IV. He tried to get me to clench my hand, but it was too swollen, I could barely move it. Eventually he was able to find one, how he did, I don't know, I'm just glad he did. When he put in the IV it hurt a ton. I'm not sure if it was during this or after, but I blacked out. I was able to say something though, and my dad caught me before I fell off the chair. I came to a little later, and threw up. They cleaned me up and the paramedic gave me the shots. I hobbled over to the sick bay and rested there for about an hour. I was feeling much better. He gave me some steroid pills, to help with the swelling, and discharged us. My dad went to pay, and the guy said 50. My dad handed him a 50 ringgit bill, and the paramedic asked if he had any smaller change. It turns out he said 15. And it is 3 ringgits for one dollar, so we payed 5 dollars for that emergency room visit.
On Monday morning, I woke up with some new outbreaks of hives. Over the course of the illness, hives have moved all over my body, I don't think they've missed a single place. I took my pills that morning, but I was still swollen up and itchy, so I couldn't really do anything but lie there and try to sleep. I slept most of that day, but it's hard when you are super itchy, swollen, and covered in hives. Tuesday morning when I woke up, I was bad again. Nice and swollen with some new hives. I was all set for another day like Monday. In the afternoon sometime, it started getting hard to breathe. I didn't want to cause a false alarm, but I told my parents anyway. We decided to wait a little, and see if it got any worse. My hands started tingling, so my dad took that as a sign that we should go. We got to the clinic, and my breathing had started to recover a bit, so it did turn out to be a false alarm. They still gave me a few shots, and an IV water pack. They upped my dosage of pills and sent us home.
On Wednesday I just plain wasn't feeling much better, so we went back to the clinic. They gave me some more shots, and they had some different pills for me to take. These new ones did the trick, because we never had to go back to the clinic. So while my family was out snorkeling and swimming and playing on the beach, I was sitting on the bed, trying not to itch. I really liked Tioman, except for that tiny part where I got sick partway through.
My brother ordered squid for dinner on Friday night. I thought it would be cool to try it, so I took a little bite, nothing big, more like a nibble really. I woke up Saturday morning with hives on my wrists but didn't notice them for a little bit, they weren't that obvious. When we did notice them, we didn't think it was any reason to worry, so we didn't. Saturday passed, and I started swelling up. My hands got so swollen I couldn't move my fingers more than a few centimeters. My lip also swelled. My feet swelled so that it hurt to walk at all. Hives were breaking out all over my body, and I itched like crazy.
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| I don't know if you can tell, but my hands are very swollen at this point. I couldn't move them out of this position. |
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| My feet, you can't really tell, but they are swollen. |
We (my parents) did a little research on hives and found that it could be fatal if my neck swelled up and I suffocated. We weren't sure exactly what to do. If we were at home, I would go to the emergency room, but we were on a tropical island, a 4 hour boat ride away from civilization. Then we learned there was a small clinic on another part of the island. Sunday afternoon we decided that I had better go there. It was a short 10 minute water taxi ride away. The clinic was closed on Sundays, as we found out when my dad and I arrived. We figured it was and emergency, so my dad looked around until he found someone who could help. It turned out to be a paramedic. He took us inside and looked me over. He started preparing some shots and an IV line to give them to me. I was so swollen, however, that he could not find a vein to put in the IV. He tried to get me to clench my hand, but it was too swollen, I could barely move it. Eventually he was able to find one, how he did, I don't know, I'm just glad he did. When he put in the IV it hurt a ton. I'm not sure if it was during this or after, but I blacked out. I was able to say something though, and my dad caught me before I fell off the chair. I came to a little later, and threw up. They cleaned me up and the paramedic gave me the shots. I hobbled over to the sick bay and rested there for about an hour. I was feeling much better. He gave me some steroid pills, to help with the swelling, and discharged us. My dad went to pay, and the guy said 50. My dad handed him a 50 ringgit bill, and the paramedic asked if he had any smaller change. It turns out he said 15. And it is 3 ringgits for one dollar, so we payed 5 dollars for that emergency room visit.
On Monday morning, I woke up with some new outbreaks of hives. Over the course of the illness, hives have moved all over my body, I don't think they've missed a single place. I took my pills that morning, but I was still swollen up and itchy, so I couldn't really do anything but lie there and try to sleep. I slept most of that day, but it's hard when you are super itchy, swollen, and covered in hives. Tuesday morning when I woke up, I was bad again. Nice and swollen with some new hives. I was all set for another day like Monday. In the afternoon sometime, it started getting hard to breathe. I didn't want to cause a false alarm, but I told my parents anyway. We decided to wait a little, and see if it got any worse. My hands started tingling, so my dad took that as a sign that we should go. We got to the clinic, and my breathing had started to recover a bit, so it did turn out to be a false alarm. They still gave me a few shots, and an IV water pack. They upped my dosage of pills and sent us home.
On Wednesday I just plain wasn't feeling much better, so we went back to the clinic. They gave me some more shots, and they had some different pills for me to take. These new ones did the trick, because we never had to go back to the clinic. So while my family was out snorkeling and swimming and playing on the beach, I was sitting on the bed, trying not to itch. I really liked Tioman, except for that tiny part where I got sick partway through.
I know nothing about hives, or how to get relief from the itching, swelling, etc. I am just glad you are getting better. Whether it be the squid you nibbled at or something else that caused the problem you may never know. But me? I would probably never try that again--and I hope you never have another problem like that in your whole life.
ReplyDeleteLove, Grandpa Hull
Wow, Sorry about the hives. I can sympathize a lot because I used to get hives very often. But never as bad as you describe. Glad you lived through it and that you can still say you liked Tioman. Sounds like a beautiful place to be. So grateful they had a paramedic on the island! Grandma Hull
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