I’ve had an itchy rash developing over the last two weeks. Fillipa and Daniele called it an allergy, but I was pretty paranoid it was something like bed bugs. Especially since Daniele already had an “allergy” and that seemed like an odd coincidence. But it didn’t really make sense that I would have bed bugs now, after living in the same apartment for over a month. It wasn’t until I complained about my itching over twitter that my friend Jared gave me the answer: Scabies.
I got the idea that I probably had Scabies on Monday night but I had to wait until Wednesday to go to the dermatologist. My experiences with the Italian health system have been pretty good. I went to the ER/Clinic first, where the doctor wasn’t 100% sure what it was and told me to go upstairs to the dermatologist. She knew immediately that it was scabies. Apparently there is an epidemic. I was the third person she had seen that day with the same problem. The cure is intense but quick. It only takes four days. There is a surfer soap I use at the start and end, an oil I put on every night, a pill I take at night, and another lotion I can use for dry skin. The clinic is free, but I had to pay to see the dermatologist, something like 15 or 20 euros.
I already had plans to see Daniele that same night. I wasn’t dreading the “Hon, I have scabies” conversation too much since I was pretty sure he had started it. But he maintained that his was just an allergy. He gets a sort of eczema every winter with the dry air and the hospital soap. But on closer examination, his “allergy” had spread past his arms. There was no arguing we should split the soap and oil.
My original theory was he got them at the hospital and gave them to me. How else? But now that I’ve been paying attention I see all the different places I could have gotten them first; like trying on cloths, or sitting in public fabric-lined chairs. But I maintain that he gave them to me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
That night I met and had dinner with Daniele’s family for the first time. I ate possibly the best meal ever, and got to know his parents and younger brother. Not to go off on a tangent on the meal. But we had gnocchi with pesto (the pesto they made with Daniele’s basil), Eggplant parmigiana (not like in the US, it was layered and baked like lasagna), Grilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers covered with bread crumbs), buffalo mozzarella, spinach and broccoli, roasted chestnuts, little pastries, limoncello, and coffee. So many courses! So good! I loved his family, too, of course :)
Later that night I developed a really bad fever. And the smoker’s cough I’ve just learned to live with from living with Filippa got noticeably worse. I think I might have bronchitis or a flu or something. Like scabies isn’t enough!
I’m actually not as grossed out as I would expect myself to be. The rash was unbelievably itchy. Unbearably so. It woke me up in the night on Monday. It’s actually a bit of a relief that what I have is something that can be cured so quickly. If all I had was a reaction to an unknown allergen, that could take months to go away. I may have ripped my skin off. Yesterday I was on the Metro, trying not to touch anything, since public transit is so gross. Then it occurred to me that it is a pretty safe bet I am the sickest person on the Metro between my cough, fever, and scabies. Isn’t that something!
Here is what scabies looks like, if you want to see. Not as gross as you would probably think.
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20101001Roma#5550645294719667826