Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Adult Diaper Rash

Yes, kids, it is as bad as it sounds. And I know, I know. I haven't been posting lately as frequently as I would like. Things have been "stewin'", and I'm just trying to decide what is important for you to know about my life these days.

So I acquired what I am referring to as "Adult Diaper Rash" last week. I was on set on Thursday and Friday, ballroom dancing (or trying to, in a room full of lying background actors who had stated that, yes, they were "familiar" with ballroom dance but not one of them actually knew how to lead or follow a simple waltz). I'd just bought myself a beautiful black cocktail dress the day before, and I was wearing black hosiery. When the wardrobe department changed my outfit to something with "more color", I should have removed the hosiery. When I asked if I could, the response was "why would you?" and frankly, the answer should have been, "because I'm the only person not dressed in black, wearing black hosiery. I look stupid, and I feel uncomfortable". Really, I should never have asked. I should have removed the hose when I changed the dress.

Instead, I wore the dress; I wore the hose; I taught a bunch of background actors how to waltz; we all went to work, dancing for hours on end in a non-ballroom with hard marble floors and too much heat from our bodies and the equipment. At the end of my long workday Thursday, when I peeled the hose off, I started scratching my left ankle and right knee.

Went back to work on Friday with a full-blown rash up the backs of both legs. Delayed wearing the hosiery for as long as humanly possible. Indicated to a few folks, including the background "wrangler", why I was not wearing them. Knew I'd eventually have to put them on, as the shots we'd get on Friday would need to "match" what we'd shot on Thursday. Mentally kicked myself all day for not removing the hosiery on Thursday before I got on camera.

Friday was not as long of a workday, but we discovered that the music that would be played on camera was, in fact, a Viennese Waltz, and that four couples of "professional" dancers had been brought in to make the rest of us look better (or worse? Not sure). I went around "adjusting" the waltzes we'd all been doing from the previous day, as there was no way any of us would be able to match the pace of the music with the boxstep we'd been doing the day before. It was a workout.

Woke up a few times Friday night scratching. Uh oh. Got up Saturday morning, and the rash had spread up to my low back/upper buttocks (hence, Adult Diaper Rash). Went to work at Warner Bros. early so I could talk to a manager about possibly switching from a tour shift to a tour support shift (as my work uniform would chafe the rash if I were sitting or walking, which I do for two hours at a time while guiding tours). No dice; had to have a doc's note indicating a change of worktype; went to the First Aid station on the lot to get said note; no dice - they can only treat small "wounds" like bug bites, not "systemic" wounds like a heat rash. Got a referral to a couple of urgent care centers, and left work for the day to see about taking care of this.

Before heading to any of the urgent care centers, though, I had to figure out how to file a Workers' Compensation claim against my Thursday/Friday employers on a Saturday, as this was in no way related to my work at Warner Bros. but absolutely would impact my ability to work there going forward. Made a few phone calls; got something in the works; got seen. The doc did not touch or scrape or in any way make contact with my rash. He heard my explanation of its origin; prescribed a steroid shot and some Prednisone and Hydoxyzine, and sent me on my way with all of the above. He wrote a note for Warner Bros. indicating a work adjustment, but before he "submitted" it as part of my WC claim, I asked him to not make any adjustment on paper, as the employer who would be paying the claim would not need to know about my WB job. I then took the original document over to WB. Yay, me!

Here are some pics of the current "progress" of my Adult Diaper Rash:
Saturday. Very itchy, very bumpy, steroids not yet "drying" it out.
today. note right knee and left ankle
put yo leg up in the air!
(left ankle, still a bit "bumpy" textured)

also today. looks worse than it feels.
back of right knee
very splotchy but not so bumpy

















I've been back to my Warner Bros. gig (not guiding tours), and I'm doing okay. Was hoping to book some background work yesterday, today, or tomorrow, before I finish out the week at Warner Bros. Have decided to only take the Hydroxyzine at bedtime, since it does seem to be helping me sleep through the night without waking to unconscious scratching. It's prescribed as PRN, so that is my definition of "as needed". The Prednisone will be gone with my first meal of Thursday. I'm hoping that all evidence of the rash will be gone by end of day Thursday. It sure ain't pretty!

Have you, as an adult, ever had a case of "Diaper Rash" (or something equivalent)? How did it affect your life, and what changes did you make, either in the short-term or long-term?

2 comments:

  1. Oh yikes!! Poor you, that looks so itchy! I have had pityriasis rosea twice and that was just awful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was incredibly itchy before the steroids. It's okay for now, but I do hope it clears up before I have to be "seen" in my skin again. It's just so ugly. :P

      Googling pityriasis rosea now... ;)

      Delete

I LOVE your feedback; give it to me, Baby. Uh-huh, uh-huh.