It's spring. I think everyone has a story of their spring cold, or allergy, or ailment.

So here's my story:

I've been oddly tired the last couple weeks--sleeping lots and whenever the urge took me, often much more often and much longer than tends to make me happy. And for those of you who have allergies, you know this is not exactly unusual in the spring. (Well, it's unusual that one gets to indulge the tiredness maybe, but not unusual to be this tired--allergies are taxing, yo.) I didn't think much of it, or suspect anything particularly strange was afoot. (I figured I've been constantly fighting off a cold.)

Then Tuesday morning I noticed something odd: I had hives. Or I thought they were hives, I had these pinkish oval bumps all over my chest and stomach and sides... one on my neck, one on my legs, one on my arm... Only I didn't notice them until I saw them. They hadn't itched, or hurt, they were just magically there.

Just great, like I need another allergic manifestation. I showed Sean, I showed my mother. Both made sympathetic noises. True, the bumps didn't itch (unless I fussed with them) so I hardly noticed them: But come on, I was covered in bumps...and we know that I the allergy queen. It had to be hives, right?

When they hadn't gone away by Wednesday evening, I decided to go to the doctor. Nothing better than lifting your shirt to show your stomach and watching a medical professional's eyes widen. "Wow." (I like my doctor, and the PA who often sees me at his after-hours clinic, so this wasn't as bad as it may sound. Funny though.)

The good news is that it isn't hives. The bad news is that I may have them for as long as 6-8 weeks or more. Pityriasis rosea is the name of my pet skin condition (and what an awesome name...) It may be viral, but medically speaking we're not sure. I've simplified things by explaining to people I have the plague--usually after I give them a big hug. You should see the faces I get--the humor turned to perplexed concern when they see I mean it...

It's not contagious. It's not uncommon in "young people" and females are slightly more likely to get it than males. It goes away on its own. If you've had it once you're unlikely to have it again (why? maybe just statistics). It rarely spreads to the face or hands or feet, perhaps because it doesn't like sunlight. (Yes, I am thinking of going to a tanning bed to see if it helps--my PA didn't recommend it because she prefers to warn patients away from tanning beds, but she did mention that UVB light was thought to help. If only I could for certain find a tanning bed that uses the dreaded UVB lighting... Hell, if it'd get warm enough out I'd just go outside...) This illness can come with fatigue (w00t, non-mysterious tiredness perhaps solved!) and nausea and any other mess of side symptoms.

So yeah, I have the plague. That's my exciting news for the week, what's yours?