Experiments in Immunology: Don't Try This At Home

So I wrote the earlier post about 3 hours after I got the rabies shot. By the time I got back to campus (t plus 4 hours), I was going down like a sick cow. Fever, shivering from chills, stiffness in my neck and both arms and legs, sore lymph nodes in my neck and armpits, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth, and most strange of all, the hair on my arms and neck were completely raised up. All of this within hours of getting that shot. I managed to make it through lecture (t plus 5 hours) then asked some of my peers for help.

I was not having an allergic reaction to the rabies vaccine. Do not mistake my symptoms for any kind of histamine response. I was having a full-out immunological response to it. My body was throwing the entire fucking immunological arsenal at those killed virus proteins. Danger, Will Robinson! Intruder alert! Faster, pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Upon reflection, using myself as a lab rat, getting the flu shot on Tuesday then the rabies shot today, was probably not such a good idea. My immune system was primed and ready from the first shot, and it went just a teensy bit overboard when the second one arrived 48 hours later.

My peers recommended ibuprofen. I resisted at first because I simply didn't want to put anything else into me, but I finally gave in and took 400 mg (I always carry ibuprofen with me). And it really helped. Within half an hour (t plus 6 hours by then), the ibuprofen kicked in and started tamping down some of the more severe symptoms. It didn't eliminate them, it just made them less uncomfortable. But the hairs on my neck and arms remain raised. So very weird. I was at least able to stay and complete nearly all of the microanatomy lab.

I am now at home looking forward to a night of doing nothing at all except cooking a decent meal, playing with my dogs, and going to bed early. Oh, did I mention how vet school forces you to evaluate how many hours of sleep you really need versus how many you think you need? I've shaved nearly 1.5 hours off my normal sleep schedule--that translates into valuable study time.

To be clear, most people who have to get multiple vaccinations do not have this kind of reaction. And to also be clear, the vaccines themselves are not the problem: not the adjuvant, not the killed virus proteins. The problem lies entirely in how my delicate-flower immune system responded.  I did not give myself autism. I am not sick--I don't have the flu or rabies. My immune system is just rather flamboyant in its response to all of these new antigens. A good night's sleep and I'll be just fine tomorrow.

Herd Immunity

I'm recovering swiftly from my head cold (Advil and a tipple of whiskey: too bad I can't patent that). Typical rhino virus, probably. Thank goodness it wasn't flu or, dog forbid, the dreaded norovirus.

Germs are everywhere on campus. I know that makes me sound like some crazy Chicken Little but consider: I use computers in the library often; then there's door handles to buildings, classrooms, restrooms; and coffee cups or dropped pens handed to you by someone else; and the list is pretty much endless. I wash my hands often, and always after using the library computers, but sometimes that just isn't enough.

Biochemistry, which I'm taking this quarter, is one of the largest undergraduate classes at OSU with around 400 registrants. The largest class is the second term of biochem with well over 400 (numbers probably swollen by those trying to improve their poor grades from their first attempt).

Close your eyes and imagine 400 people crammed into an overheated auditorium, seats still warm from some other large class that vacated them minutes before. People are sneezing, coughing, laughing, spraying germs willy-nilly. Hand washing is hardly going to help in this situation.

I did my part for herd immunity today and got my flu shot at a clinic offered by student health services. I'm a delicate flower, bruise like a damned peach when poked with a needle, even the tiny ones they use for the flu vax. My arm is sore and I'm sure I'll feel like shit this weekend. But I'd rather suffer mildly now than suffer horribly later.

The clinic was for all university folks: staff, students, faculty. The woman who took my info form looked at me, made a judgement about my status based on my age which she inferred from my appearance, and only after looking at my form and seeing the student ID, not the faculty insurance info, said in surprise, "oh, you're a student!" This has happened nearly every time I have had to claim a "student benefit". I'm okay with being a regular challenge to people's preconceptions but it does make me feel a bit old.

The flu vax clinic was packed, and the nurse who jabbed me told me it had been nonstop since they started up at 10 am this morning (I went in near the end of the day). They are offering a second one in a couple of weeks. One of the student health center employees was out on the student union quad dressed in a giant syringe costume (yeah, it was as weird as you think). They even offered me candy and a "I got a flu shot" sticker as I was leaving (I eschewed the former, took the latter). They are certainly doing their part to attract as many students as possible (faculty and staff are likely to be much more compliant since their health insurance plans cover the cost of the shot; I had to pay $15, or rather, had $15 put on my OSU account which I'll have to pay at the end of the quarter). The syringe guy did have to compete for attention with the lube-tasting event also taking place on the quad (yeah, that kind of lube; I'm all for open discussions about safe sex on a college campus).

Let's hear it for herd immunity.

Better Living Through Chemistry

Nighttime is always the hardest when you have a cold or the flu. I currently have a head cold which thankfully is starting to weaken. Still, I spent the weekend tossing blankets on and off. Mimi completely lost patience with me and decided to sleep next to Harry for a change. Even with three pillows, I had problems breathing and kept waking up snorfling and sneezing.

But I realized that I wasn't using all of the tools at my disposal. Last night, I took an Advil cold and sinus caplet (I love me some ibuprofen but taking it on its own for more than a couple of days upsets my stomach) then leisurely drank a pinky finger of whiskey on a couple of ice cubes while finishing up homework.

I slept like a baby.

Blerg

A month ago I got a cold. It was a garden-variety rhinovirus infection. A couple of days of extreme quantities of mucus and a muzzy head followed by a few days with a disgusting cough.

A week ago I started to feel off. Food didn't taste right. I was far more tired than I should have been. Uh oh. These were all warning signs that I've seen before. Sure enough, I got the flu.

It started with copious amounts of mucus, the typical reaction of my body in an apparent attempt to flush out the virus, followed by a very sore, swollen throat and rising fever. I thought, hopefully, that I might have a streptococcus infection. I say hopefully because you can at least get drugs for that. No such luck though.

Then it got bad. The alternating sweats and chills were causing me to change my clothes every few hours. I was so weak that I had to ask Upul to change the sheets on the bed. Every part of me hurt.

I haven't been this sick in a long time. I lost about 36 hours. Not sure what I did exactly. The dogs and cats got fed and I know I took the dogs out to pee fairly often. But other than that, those hours are gone.

To make this even worse, my home internet went out on Wednesday night (the start of our weekend). The IT Helpless Desk was typically useless, giving me a different time before it would be fixed each time I called to complain ("at least five hours," "a day," "...days").

I am supposed to fly out on leave on Tuesday night (I'm writing this on Monday afternoon). I couldn't do any of the pre-travel internet stuff I normally do. I wasn't even sure I'd be well enough to travel. I was getting frantic and stressed, not a good condition to be in when you can't even stand upright for more than a minute or two.

After repeated calls to the Helpless Desk, they finally sent a guy over. It took him less than five minutes to get my modem working again. Hamdallillah!

I made some alternate arrangements for my flights (upgraded my seats, to be precise, on the theory that if I did make the flight, I'd be more comfortable if I could stretch out a bit).

I feel quite a bit better today. Took a shower and washed my hair. Ate some food (first meal in almost two days). Took the dogs for a walk in the balmy afternoon sunshine. Things are looking up.

Adventures in the Kitchen

Being sick is never fun. Last night the gombu moved from my throat to my head. I lasted three hours this morning at work (I spent the entire time running around getting some consultants set up) before stumbling home to sleep most of the day. The dogs have an infinite reservoir of patience for daytime naps and happily stretched out beside me.

After sleeping all day and taking some non-drowsy cold medicine, I was feeling a bit buzzy and decided to do some cooking. Fussing around in the kitchen is one of my favorite ways to relax.

Eggplants have always defeated me. They always have a bitter edge no matter how I prepare them. But at last I found the perfect way to manage them: a Middle Eastern eggplant dip called baba ganoush. It takes a bit of prep on the front end but you can make this as a side dish for any grilled meat, curry, or green salad.

Select some firm eggplants. Wash thoroughly and cut off the top. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into three or four slices no more than 1 cm thick. Drizzle them with olive oil (both sides). Now here's my twist on the recipe. Most cookbooks will tell you to roast the eggplants in your oven but I use my grill whenever I can so I roast them over a propane flame. This gives them a nice char as well as a tasty smoky flavor from my well seasoned grill.

The eggplant is done when the flesh begins to turn yellowish and smooth. It took me about 20 minutes to roast slices of four large eggplants on my grill on medium heat, turning frequently.

Let the slices cool then remove the flesh from the peel. If you have properly cooked the eggplant, you can separate the flesh from the rind with a spoon. Place the eggplant in a food processer.

Add fresh lemon juice to taste, and coarsely chopped, peeled garlic to taste. I used three large cloves for my four large eggplants.

Now here's the part that makes this dish really great for parties or potlucks: add a volume of plain, unsweetened yogurt equal to about half of the volume of eggplant.

Pulse until smooth.

Serve with whole grain crackers or bread or as a side dish.

What's not to love here? If you are a bit stingy with the olive oil and use low-fat yogurt, then the fat content doesn't have to be very high. You've added no salt or sugar. And eggplants have good fiber. Enjoy!

I'm eating my eggplant dip tonight with oven-roasted chicken and potatoes. Yum!

Travels: Bordeaux and My Annual Shopping Trip in the US

I'm back home after my annual repat trip. I spent a week in Bordeaux, France, and a week in Virginia. It was a rather frustrating trip because I was sick for the entire two weeks (something I picked up here because I was sick when I stepped off the plane in Paris). I probably should have gone to a doctor while I was in France. But by the time I decided that I needed to do that, I had to head back to Paris and get on a plane. Being stuck on a plane for 8 plus hours breathing dry, recycled air sent my entire system into a complete tailspin (to apply an appropriate metaphor). Couple that with jet lag and you shouldn't be surprised that I spent most of my repat sleeping. It's a very good thing I gave myself three days here in Dhahran before I return to work (tomorrow) because I'm only now starting to feel sort of like myself. So in short, the trip was not exactly the adventure I had hoped to have. But that's the way it goes sometimes.

I was in La Rochelle, located on the southwest Atlantic coast of France in the Bordeaux province. This very old port city with a deep harbor is favored by the French for their summer holidays. Not just the middle class French, either. The Ile de Ré just offshore of La Rochelle attracts French people of considerable wealth. While I was there, I observed only a handful of Brits and no Americans at all (who are unfortunately all too obvious by their manners and dress and speech).

La Rochelle is a very old city. The main streets that extend back from the original harbor are bordered by arch-covered walkways. Based on some literature I picked up there, many of the cobblestones in the streets are original. Can't you just imagine these walkways filled with vendors hawking all sorts of goods? This particular street was no longer part of the tourist commercial center but along other streets the arches were lined with shops and thronged with tourists.

The city was packed to the gills with happy French families enjoying the seashore and the (mostly) sunny weather. The autoroutes from Paris to La Rochelle were clogged with French people on holiday, their cars packed to the roof with bags and people, stacks of bikes on the rear racks, kayaks, tents, and other gear tied to the roof. The French seem to do just fine with their small cars and all that gear--not an SUV to be seen. I was also rather interested in the fact that all of the cars were new or only a couple of years old. With the obvious exception of the slums in the larger cities and some of the rather dismal rural areas, in general France is a relatively prosperous country. It is another interesting factoid that I've encountered in more than one guidebook and website that the French spend their holidays and their money in France. 

Even though the tide was out the morning I took this photo, exposing a rather unlovely muddy shore, this La Rochelle beach was jammed with sun seekers.

I stayed at the Vue sur Cour B&B in La Rochelle. Located in the heart of the old city in a solid old building with a tranquil courtyard, it was perfect for short trips out and about in La Rochelle. Marika was a wonderful hostess, serving up homemade pastries and yogurt in the mornings and helpful tourist advice.

View from my sitting room window into the courtyard at Vue sur Cour.

The Bordeaux countryside is flat farmland. Fields of grass, grain, corn, and to my surprise, sunflowers, stretched as far as one could see.

The green patches are the sunflower fields--hundreds of flowers facing the same direction in each field.

The terrain is a bit more hilly around Bordeaux, which is why it is so perfect for the vineyards.

The famous vineyards of that province are all located around the city of Bordeaux, which is about 200 km south of La Rochelle. I was only able to visit the old medieval town of St. Emilion. Bordeaux itself is one of the larger cities in France with over half a million in population. It looks sleek and prosperous.

St. Emilion is a medieval walled city. Here you can see part of the walls and what was originally a moat.

St. Emilion is built on a bluff of cream colored limestone. The numerous monasteries and convents and churches and shrines on top of the bluff are sharply separated from the secular part of the village at the base. The usual claptrap about a hermit saint, a miracle spring, etc. accompany a large church carved into and under the base of the hillside.

This demon creature was in the corner of an otherwise standard religious painting/fresco inside one of the main churches in St. Emilion.

I stayed with my friend DSL and then my mother while in the US. What did we do? For the most part, shopped for things on my list. It has been almost a year since I was in the US and I needed a large variety of items that I can't get or find here or that I don't want or can't bring in via mail order: underwear, shoes, medicine and supplements. I won't go down the list because that would be pretty boring. But I will say that I traveled out with two suitcases with about half a suitcase of clothes spread between them and returned with, well, you can see for yourself in the photo below.

Harry and Mimi instantly suss out the suitcase containing the dog treats and toys!

Of course I don't go to the US just to go shopping. It was good to visit with friends and family, sharing meals and a good glass of wine or two. But I don't write about everything in the blog!

While at my mother's, I was able to spend time with Bhumi, my Siamese mix cat who almost instantly upon his arrival two years ago became BFF with her 17-year old male cat (I always suspected that Bhumi was gay) and with little Dyna, the sweetest SFT there ever was. She gave me a truly enthusiastic welcome, followed me around the house all week, and deigned to sleep with me at night. She's quite the spoiled princess, as of course she should be.

Bhumi and Freckles taking up residence in the guest room, usually forbidden to them.

Dyna, little sweet pea.

Upul managed to "endure" (as DSL so aptly put it) for the two weeks but it was clear that he was relieved to get a break from the terrier madness. Harry and Mimi were ecstatic when I finally got home. Tsingy has been a burr, never more than a few feet from me. I was sitting on the couch reading before I got up to take this photo. Can't you just feel the contentment? All is right with their world again.

Harry, Tsingy, and Mimi purring.

H1N1 and Maunderings

H1N1

Whatever you do, don't catch this virus. It's an ass-kicker. Been down with it since Thursday. Still have a fever after four days! I slept most of the past 24 hours and it hardly blunted the viral fury. Bleah.

Maunderings

Nanochiggers could be anything since nobody has seen them. They aren't flies (no see'ums are tiny flies, I think). They hop around in the grass (consensus is they live in the grass). They bite some people a lot too, just like Meems. But I am pleased to say that the orange peel-ethanol spray does work. Not 100% but what do you want from homemade? She has just a handful of bites on her and is not scratching all the time.

G has requested pics of oleanders. When I feel a bit better I'll take the camera on one of our walks. We have white and pink varieties. They can get quite large. I recall that California uses them as highway centerline plantings. Eucalyptus grows well in California and I was wondering if it would do well here too.

I have been looking around carefully and want to add to my flora and fauna lists: chocolate brown ants that are at least 1 cm long (huge), itty bitty bees (which means there are more moths than I've probably seen too but they are nocturnal most likely), and how could I leave off palm trees? They are the quintessential plant that grows in salty, hot, poor soil conditions. They are by far the largest plant out here.

The satellite dish installer came yesterday--at 9pm! We have a long holiday (called e'id) coming up, four days off from work plus the weekend, and stores close during this time--I wanted to have the installation done before then so between TV and the camp library I wouldn't go crazy. Most expats leave the country during both of the e'ids (this one comes after Hajj and the other is after Ramadan). I hauled myself out of bed to watch him get everything set up. He ran through a bunch of instructions with me but in my fever-addled state I forgot them at once. I've never in my adult life had cable or satellite TV so this will be all new for me.

I got my multiple exit/re-entry visa on Saturday morning (first day of our work week, remember). I have to leave KSA to activate it so I'm tentatively planning a trip to Bahrain to do some shopping and people watching on Nov 30. It's still e'id then but the stores re-open. More on this adventure as the planning unfolds.

My first paycheck should be deposited in about 5 days. I already got the detailed paystub via email from Payroll. My rent for November is a whopping USD 130. I have been stretched terribly thin and have been living on credit most of this month. Having cash flow again will be a relief. I have debts to pay off (DSL, I'm looking at you! And the rest of you know who you are too!).

Upul just came to walk the dogs. I'll try to snap a pic of him when he returns. The dogs are settling in wonderfully. Mimi still pees in the study in the afternoons but I've started putting down paper towels for her and she pees on those. Not a perfect solution but we are taking baby steps. I got to see how the dogs react to Upul (I usually don't see him at all) and they seem to think he's just fine. He told me that Harry brings him a toy to play with almost every day! Aww!

Sick and Not Happy About It

I'm sick as a dog. Could be sinus infection, could be flu, could be something worse. I was pawing through my medicines in the fridge looking for something stronger than ibuprofen, which I am not tolerating well now after two days of a steady diet of it.

More than 2/3s of the bottles in there are animal meds.

Human meds? I appear to have most of the major classes of pain killer (because I never take them even when prescribed) but no antibiotics nor anything for allergy symptoms or cough.

I have darvocet. I have tramadol. I have vicodin. I have oxycodone out the wazoo. Totally full bottles, never touched. Not helping.

Bleah. Been down for two days, looking at a minimum of two more.

Post Script. I was having troubles breathing and coughing was becoming terribly painful. Worried that the gombu was getting into my lungs, I finally caved and headed to the critical care place down the main road. They gave me an albuterol nebulizer treatment--ahhh!--plus chest xrays (all clear!), plus a shot of an antibiotic and a steroid in me bum--owww! that combo really stings. Plus new prescriptions for my preferred inhaler and Flonase, which is actually my asthma inhaler designed for the nose. Who ever came up with such a thing? And he said get some Mucinex DM. I'm now all dosed up and ready for bed, looking forward to a decent night's sleep for a change.