[Sundae]

My whole right hand is swollen. Even the bases of my fingers have puffed up.
I can no longer see the bones or veins, just puffiness.
I can't hold it down by my side - it throbs too much. Has to be held straight or aloft (even typing is making it itch).
I can't clench effectively as the skin is stretched so tight.

If I do allow my hand to drop it feels like I have broken bones in it (I've done that before, I remember).
Except I know it's just swelling from a bite. I haven't bumped or knocked it even slightly.

My hand feels like it's been replaced with a big rubber clown glove filled with poison.
Mum says when Grandad went to Australia he had a reaction like this to a bite in the same place. He insisted Jimmy took him to A&E and they said exactly what Jimmy had done - standard bite, just a bad reaction. Mum was a bit scoffy about this, but honestly if I was in a foreign country where everything was trying to kill me I'd probably suspect this was the beginning of the end too. Instead I know it's "just" a bite from one of our benign critters, and my system just lurves the drama.

Grrrr.
This is nearly as bad as the hives I had a couple of years ago. Except they were all over and lasted 6 days. I have high hopes I will pass through into mending by tonight.