July 29, 2012

  • mosquito bites

    can go suck it.

    not my blood, of course.
    SIGH.
    I gained about four on the first day I arrived in Banff, just from practicing in one of those music huts (they are literally huts... it's pretty whack). So for the entire week, I've been ferociously putting on itching cream and spraying on bug spray. Those four bites are finally fading away and no longer itch. Phew. But they were disgusting swollen and red. 
    Sadly, I gained three new mosquito bites last night. I forgot to re-apply bug spray for that night. They are all worse then the ones I had before. They are actually pretty painful... One is right below my ankle, which is dumb. One is in my upper right calf, right by the bending point behind the knee. That one is just MASSIVE. I can't even bend my legs fully because it's so fat. It also sort of hurts when I walk. And lastly, I have one on my right forearm, and the swell takes up about half of my entire forearm. It's that freaking huge. I sent a picture to Andrew, who's an expert on bug bites, coming from Canada and all, and he was actually shocked himself that my bite on my arm is so huge. And the one on my arm doesn't itch as much... but it hurts like hell. I practiced for about an hour and a half today and I had to call it quits because I was in pain and it was causing so much distraction. It burns to the point where the hairs on my arms stick up as if I have goosebumps 24/7. The swell is so massive that it feels like my skin on my arm is going to like, explode. It even looks like a tumor! -_-
    I don't know if I can survive two more weeks if I keep getting bug bites. I've been sitting in front of my computer, icing the swells, taking some benadryl, rubbing alcohol wipes to disinfect the germs, and soon I will be putting on itching cream before I head to bed. AHH so much work. I miss the days when my mom used to take care of everything... 
    Speaking of which, all of this is slowly making me regain my horrible memories of the days I used to live in Hawaii. I'd get so many mosquito bites, and pretty bad ones too. I'd have to go to the hospital at times and get shots, which were always the worst thing for little kids. I remember one that swelled up near my right eye, so all of my preschool pictures were a complete disaster. I looked like some sort of alien, not being able to see fully out of my right eye for the time being. One of the reasons why my family ended up moving to Vegas is because of my mosquito problem. I haven't dealt with mosquito bites since..... I got here. The more bites I end up getting, the more freaked out I'm becoming. It's like all of the old days that I've tried to forget are sadly coming back to me now... jeez.
    They say that for every bite you get, you become more immuned to it. I just hope I don't ever get a mosquito bite as worse as the ones I'm dealing with right now. It sucks because I can't even fully practice until the swelling goes away. 
    I know one thing's for sure. I will never settle down in a place that is notorious for mosquito bites. I am soooooo done with those stupid bugs!
    /end rant
    UPDATE 07/30/2012:
    After hiking sulphur mountain (1hr 48 mins going up, 1hr 5 mins going down) yesterday, I gained 5 more mosquito bites. After being completely drenched in bug spray. Do these bugs just not know that I'm OFF LIMITS? GOODNESS. lol. I've been having such a hard time sleeping in the middle of the night because I find myself scratching everywhere gg. The only good update is that my swelling on my arm is disappearing, after taking some Advil for the past two nights. Just in time for my lesson this afternoon!
    I seriously wonder if I'll ever be mosquito bite-free at my stay in Banff. AGHHH