Get well soon Chakkare

I was in a bizarre situation this Tuesday afternoon. I was excited about going back to office after a relaxing long weekend. But I fell victim to a very dangerous allergic substance in a sweet offered by my friend. Now I don't really know whether I was fortunate or unfortunate to have landed in such a bad situation that fateful day.

I developed loose stools and nausea and my whole body started turning red with itchy sensation starting from my neck to toe. I didn't really take it seriously in the first few hours. But as a few minutes passed through, I began to realize that something was dreadfully wrong. I immediately packed my bags and left to Columbia Asia Hospital which is close to my house but an hour's drive from my office.

I struggled to pull myself together through the way as I was all alone and on the way my hands and face stared swelling up to about 1/2 a centimeter due to the reaction and I was feeling giddy too. By the time I got down in front of the hospital, all my strength had drained away and I could see my brother waiting for me at the hospital. I just held on to him and went in to the Emergency ward.

The doctors and Nurses at Columbia Asia were so good and helpful.

They investigated the whole scene with me and put me through IV and medicines immediately to cut down the reaction. In the next 30 mins, the itching had stopped. But the rashes were still prominent for a couple of hours from then. I panicked a lot and so did my poor mom. The doctors wanted to keep me under observation for 24 hours. My mom stayed back with me at the hospital all night.

By God's grace, I was all well and back to normal by next morning. All the rashes and swelling had just disappeared like there was nothing at all. And I was finally discharged from the hospital the next evening.
Look how patiently I'm waiting to get discharged... :-/

What caused me this
trauma :
Well, I was allergic to a special kind of jaggery made in Kerala which is called Chakkara. Chakkara is very dark brown in color when compared to the regular jaggery. This was one of the key ingredients in the sweet that my friend had offered to me.

I wasn't aware that I was allergic to chakkara, as I've had this while I was a kid. As soon as I had a bite of the sweet, my mouth started itching very badly. But I ignored it and had the sweet and drank some water. I was alright for an hour after having the sweet. But the problem started when the trouble causing ingredient started breaking down during the digestion process and spreading all over my body through my blood stream.

When and where was I admitted: At Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal on the 26th May, 09. Here are the pictures of the ward that I stayed.