Okay, so two weeks ago for Martin Luther King weekend I decided to venture to Palm Desert for a little rest and relaxation. My pasty white body really needed some sun and being that we are so spoiled in California we were having a heat wave in the beginning of January with temperatures nearing the 90's. I fully took advance of this heat wave and was in a bathing suit for 2 days straight. Of course drinking goes along with rest in relaxation in the desert. We started our days off with bloody mary's garnished with celery and lime then moved onto Corona's accompanied by a fresh lime wedge. I am that girl who loves the garnish I am big condiment person I always have been, so this leads me to my story.
I returned home on Sunday night from the desert with a little bit of tan which I was thrilled about. I woke up the next morning and notice these weird red streaks on my legs. It was as if someone took a red magic marker and drew down my leg in 4 different places. I ignored it for a few days and then after a week went by and they didn't get any better I began to wonder what could these strange lines be. Of course as all of us do I quickly went onto Webmd only to find crazy diseases that I could possibly have, but nothing explained these lines completely. They didn't hurt, I didn't feel sick and they were not hot like many of the websites claimed.
Now it has been over a week and I decided I should probably go see my dermatologist. I made an appointment for yesterday at 9:30 to find out once and for all what these marks were covering my legs. I arrived and was sitting in the waiting room for only a few minutes before I was called into my private room to wait for the doctor. I undressed put on my robe only to hear some sirens going off throughout the building which I found to be strange. All of the sudden the nurse came in and said put your clothes back on we have to evacuate the fire alarm is going off.
I thought to myself what a nightmare I now have to get dressed, walk down 10 flights of stairs and wait for an hour while the fire department checked every room in the entire St. John's Medical Center (which is a huge facility). This was just a drill, but as luck would have it this happens about once a year and it happened to be the time I was at the doctor.
Finally after an hour I get back into the room undress once again and wait for the Dr. to come back in.
She walks into the room takes one look at my streaks and says I know exactly what this is, but before I tell you I am going to ask you a few questions.
Where were you when this happened- Palm Desert- Where you in the sun- yes- were you drinking- yes and did your drinks have limes in them- yes.
I began thinking to myself what does drinking being in the sun ,and limes have to do with anything I have done this hundreds of times in my life that is what I live for ....laying on beach or at the pool with a drink that has lime or citrus garnish.
Well, apparently this time was different. I decided to put sunscreen on my face, arms and belly, but I thought the sun could not be that strong I will forgo putting any protection on my legs. I was drinking bloody mary's all morning with several fresh juicy limes in each cocktail. My treat is to squeeze the lime juice into my mouth after I am done with my cocktail, but apparently I was sloppy with my lime juice and it ended up on my legs in four different places causing my skin to burn and stain into red streaks- also known as a citrus burn.
So, now I have cortisone cream that I have to put on 4 times a day for a month, but there is a good chance that it will not make the streaks go away and I will have to have my skin professionally bleached in the places where the burns occurred.
Note to self and everyone else who loves a citrus garnish in their cocktail don't get it on your skin it will give you a very ugly citrus burn that may never go away! Here are a few links to share with you that this is real!
All in all a very depressing day for me and for all of you Corona and lime drinkers.
http://www.ksby.com/global/story.asp?s=6750823&ClientType=Printablehttp://childcare.about.com/od/caregonewrong/a/sun.htm
