Dermatitis

Argh, can't sleep. Must be the coffee I drank during dinner...

Today at a dermatologist's clinic, I saw a case of irritant contact dermatitis. She's a 31-year-old lady who's a music teacher. She wore gloves when doing laundry or washing stuff. I noticed that her right fingers were reddish, swollen, scaling. Left hand's fine. Some questions were asked, like her job, whether or not she came in contact/touch anything like gardening and flowers, cooking, washing fish/prawns, cleaning, stuff like that. The dermatologist told her that the common culprits are detergent, some sour/spicy substance as in cooking materials, pollens, and he went on advising the lady on all the preventive measures against detergents.

I think otherwise. If you think about it, only her right hand (she confirmed it to be her dominant hand) was affected. Left hand's fine. Do you wash laundry or raw food with just your dominant hand? Do you do cleaning with just your dominant hand? Surely you need both hands to get the job done. On top of that, she had said that she wore gloves while doing those chores. So there is a high possibility of her coming in contact with the allergen while not wearing the gloves i.e. not those chores were not irritating her skin.

I think it's something that just needs her to use her dominant hand, like writing with a pen, holding the keys, pc mouse, spraying insecticide, etc., which had was contaminated with the allergen. There were many things I wished to ask further, but I remembered the advice of my lecturer to not butt in, to avoid any unwanted trouble. Oh well... I really was dying to know more and tell her my experience as well (yup, the strongest suspicion would be that I'm allergic to dust, for now), so maybe she could watch out, find out the possible allergen, and avoid it altogether. Common is common, but not always.

Few years back, when I went to see a dermatologist, he too said the same thing about the detergent. In fact, all the doctors in the past kept saying detergent as the cause. Very rarely do they mention about other allergens, like dust/dust mites. I wash plates, do laundry, cook and clean WITHOUT gloves, and my hands are still fine. But, my hands started to sting when I touched keyboards, be it laptop or desktop, or some dusty items. So I believe the allergen causing my hands to be like that, is dust, or dust mites. Either one. Case closed. Perhaps.

11:10 PM

That's the time I started to write on my newest entry. I'm really exhausted today. Had the usual routine of going to the Klinik Kesihatan Kota Samarahan. Today was my last day being attached there. We had 3 lecturers a.k.a. family medicine specialists taking turns accompanying us there. It was a great experience, though it was not as great when we had to follow the medical officers as the lecturers had to go teach other students at other clinics. The medical officers were just too busy for us. At least they were free enough to sign our evaluation forms ^^ one of the doctors treat us like friends. Too bad though, she's leaving soon, maybe this October. Many good lecturers and doctors have left, and more are leaving. This is very unfortunate, especially for the juniors. Though there are a few good ones joining in, I feel that the numbers just can't add up to the lost.

Anyways, today was also the day where I slept in the van throughout the journey from the clinic back to faculty. The van wasn't at all comfortable, really. Yet I managed to snooze off. Yeah my weird position did had some effect on me when I woke up (woken my friend when we reached faculty haha, so surprised I slept through the journey). My legs were numb, couldn't stand at all initially. Walked wobbly to the cafeteria. What's on the menu today? Hmmm... after checking out what they had to offer, I had my pick. Spinach (as usual), kailan (uncommon) and fried fish (uncommon). Of course there's rice =) Chanced upon someone I just met =)

Sat down at a table and *breeze blowing*... not another soul eating at the cafeteria other than the staff there. Why do I eat at the cafeteria? Well, actually the food was tolerable (more than all those previous managements). Also, some of my friends would be eating there. So if I'm lucky, I'd be able to meet some of them there while eating =) somehow today's not the day =/ Oh well...

After that went back to my house. Finished the last 2 episodes of season 5 of Supernatural. What a touching ending... Hmm... I wonder what would the Christians think when they watch supernatural... if they do, that is. Angels are dicks (quotes Dean Winchester), humans can kill demons AND angels (just need the right weapons). God CAN die, would be reaped by Death if God did, and many more which I think... well... you know. Downloading the first episode of season 6. CAN'T WAIT!!!

After coming back from a lecture in the afternoon, I had a round of Starcraft with my 2 friends. Then it was already time to go to Sushi King for a makan in conjunction with my friend's birthday. Had planned to go to Kuching Fest after that but... well, I for one, didn't have the mood and can't drive anymore at the moment. So we ended up just walking/window shopping in The Spring. I must be really exhausted, the dark rings around my eyes were horror, haha! Pointed out by friend... I too feel more tired than usual. Perhaps the lack of sleep due to the hectic insane schedule and the study time I put onto myself has taken its toll on me... Well, today's a no-study day for me anyways! =D but it's back to the library tomorrow, perhaps after lunch =(

I was really beat, bored... then I read someone's blog, and I thought, hey, since you're so free now, go do something with your blog! And hence this entry =) Currently playing on my laptop is Colbie Caillat's Bubbly, moving on to Fallin' For You. Yeah continue reading the blog =)