Heading to the Shenzhen airport on Sunday to catch an 8pm flight back to Guilin, I arrived at the main terminal feeling nauseous and slightly tired.  Seeing as I teach at 8am on Monday mornings, I was nevertheless very excited to know that I would return to my Guilin apartment in time to get some quality shut-eye.  However, much to my dismay, I learned shortly after arriving at the airport that my flight would be delayed for an unknown amount of time.  Since my flight to Shenzhen just three days earlier was delayed an unbearable 16 hours, you can surmise that I was less-than-pleased to learn that my return flight would also be unable to leave as scheduled.

Airport Delays and Passenger Infighting in Shenzhen: Did I Sign Up for This?

At 3:30am, seven and a half hours after my planned departure time, my flight finally left Shenzhen for Guilin.  Due to poor weather conditions in Shenzhen, a multitude of domestic flights had been both delayed and cancelled, resulting in overcrowding and even a few serious scuffles at the Shenzhen airport.  After claiming my luggage and taking an hour-long bus ride back into Guilin, I managed to get to sleep just as the sun was peeking its head above the horizon.  I cancelled my English class to catch some rest and woke up at 2:30pm with small, unidentifiable bumps on my arms; figuring that they were just some sort of unknown rash that would disappear sooner rather than later, I didn’t give them a second chance and carried on with my day.

On Tuesday morning, I got out of bed to find that Monday’s rash had turned red and was beginning to itch.  By Wednesday, I had full-blown hives that were growing in both size and number.  They had covered my arms, chest, hands, and feet completely; to make matters worse, regular breathing had become quite difficult.  On Thursday, my face had swollen and was beginning to resemble a tomato.  Unable to determine for certain the cause of the hives or to treat them myself, I finally rushed to Guilin’s No. 4 People’s Hospital to seek treatment.

Much to my surprise, the visit to the hospital was quick and convenient; in twenty minutes time, I had seen a doctor, received prescriptions for antibiotics and anti-itch cream, and successfully purchased both medications at an exceedingly cheap price.  Next, I was hooked up to an hour-long IV drip – having never experienced a transfusion of any kind before, I was a bit taken aback at the thought of receiving an IV for an allergic reaction.  Nonetheless, Chinese doctors prescribe IVs much more frequently than American doctors do, so I trusted that the medical professional I had seen used his best judgment when deciding on my treatment.

The next day, my health had deteriorated quite a bit and the severity of my allergic reaction was almost intolerable.  No longer itchy, my hives had become painful and hot to the touch.  Afraid that I could no longer rely on Guilin’s local doctors to adequately treat the illness, my boyfriend called his family medical professional in the US to explain what I had been going through.  Within a half hour’s time, he had prescribed prednisone, an immunosuppressant used to treat serious inflammation.  We bought 100 pills for approximately US$0.60 at the nearest pharmacy; one week later, my hives had disappeared, not withstanding some minor scarring.

Moral of the Story: Read Medicine Labels Carefully, and Wear Sunscreen!

All in all, it turns out that I had taken a sulfa drug while in Shenzhen to cure my earlier bout of food poisoning.  Not knowing that the medicine listed sulfa as an ingredient, I took it for over three days despite the fact that I have been allergic to sulfa since I was a child.  My boyfriend had indeed told the pharmacist that I was unable to take drugs containing sulfa, but it seems that the pharmacist didn’t know the contents of the products she was selling.  The allergy didn’t manifest itself until after I spent a day sightseeing and soaking up the sun in Hong Kong; the end product turned out to be a severe case of phototoxicity.

Despite all the bumps in the road along the way, the chance to experience Hong Kong was one I’ll never forget.  My recent bouts with common but preventable illnesses have reminded me of just how important it is to take any and all necessary health precautions when traveling abroad.  Seeing as my summer journey through Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia will begin in less than a month and a half, this past trip to Hong Kong has indeed provided me with a certifiable wake-up call!