Day 163 - 17th July 2010 (Evening) to 18th July 2010

So, I thought that was the end of our health problems.... boy was I wrong!

Jen had her new tablets to take and I also have some tablets for my cough, which has turned into a mild chest infection.

So anyway, this evening Jen took an antibiotic called "Cravit" which contains Levofloxacin.

She took her first tablet at 9pm, after dinner of scrambled eggs as chewing was really hurting her jaw and ear.

About an hour later she was complaining of an itchy head, and felt her whole face was very tight. Her voice had changed and she was wheezing and coughing... We discussed it, and decided to wait for an hour and see if she improved... 10 minutes later and we changed our minds.
We headed back to the clinic in the south of the island, which is a 10 minute journey by bike, and by this time Jen was quite distressed... They checked her over, and sent her to the clinic on the north end of the island, as they are the only clinic with the correct medication to treat allergic reactions.

Another 10 minutes passed by, and we arrived at the clinic, where Jen was taken straight in and put on a drip and monitor. Her oxygen levels were lower than normal (probably due to not being able to breathe properly). Her blood pressure was way high.

After checking her levels and looking at the antibiotics that she had taken, they gave her an antihistamine injection, and said that they may need to give her adrenaline and barbituates to reduce the swelling. She was having an anaphylactic reaction to the drugs.
30 minutes later, the redness in her face, chest, and stomach had calmed down a bit, so I took a photo... If you click on it you can see her Angelina Jolie lips.!

Another 20 minutes later I took another photo... you can see how much her lips have gone down.


So, now stabilized, she needed to stay on oxygen and stay overnight for constant monitoring. When she stood up, she was close to passing out, probably just due to the battering her body had taken in the last couple of hours.

We got a room (well I got a couch, cos there was no way I was going home!), and Jen wore an oxygen mask throughout the night (at one point, snoring like a cruise liners horn!) with multiple checks by nursing staff.

7.30am they brought her breakfast of toast and tea (where's MY brekkie!) and gave her a barrage of different antibiotics, antihistamine, anti inflammatories, and painkillers, in an attempt to help with her ear infection. Then another waiting game, to see if she had any reaction to these.

12pm and no reactions, she was allowed to leave the clinic (after a 10,000BHT bill..) and is now back at home watching Big Brother and relaxing.


Phew! What a worry... but now she is back on the mend!