When real things happen to imaginary people

I'd been feeling a little under the weather lately, and last night my neck started welting up. "But but but!" I thought, "I'm following this dratted gluten-free diet to see if that helps with this very problem! It was working! What happened? Aaaaugh!"

And then I realized: I’d had sushi with tempura bits and soy sauce over the weekend, both of which sneakily contain gluten. I knew that, but thought a tiny bit of gluten wouldn't be the end of the world. But there had been Worcestershire sauce as seasoning in multiple dishes the past few days, and wouldn’t you know it, the dratted stuff has wheat in it.

A rather large oversight and label-reading fail on my part, and now I’m paying for it. Last night involved repeated applications of Aquaphor ointment on my neck, no bath (hot baths make the inflammation a lot worse ::sobs:: ), and Benadryl at bedtime.

I'm astonished that my system is that sensitive to gluten right now. But believe me, I hope that those small amounts of gluten are what triggered this, and not some other thing that my doctor and I have not yet figured out.

However, this flare-up is NOT going to stop my planned Goth Upkeep today. I'm just not going to be dying the hair at the very nape of my neck, because that is asking for trouble and I know it.