Minor Medical Scare

In the clear now, so no worries, but earlier in the week, I had started to notice my right ankle swelling up and aching a lot. At first I was confused about whether it was a bruise or a mosquito bite, but as the pain and swelling grew and reddened, I quickly realized it wasn’t anything quite like I’ve experienced before. We did a lot of walking around the city, and I’d notice that the pain, sometimes dull and sometimes sharp, would dissipate if I walked a bit. But the second we’d stop or I’d stand still, the aching would return. I figured that it was probably some type of spider bite and the venom would diffuse through the bloodstream, ameliorating the pain when I stayed mobile. I heeded Dr. Robert’s advice, “Don’t be a hero”, and later in the evening told our assistant coordinators, An and Tuan, about it. Tuan said he could take me to an international clinic the next day if it felt worse, since CET doesn’t allow local clinics to provide treatment to us students. Luckily the next day, after some Benadryl (which made me incredibly sleepy) and Cortisone, the swelling and redness started to subside and in 2 days, it was all over. Whew!