-^-for posterity-^-

i have the cat virus.

a few days ago i noticed some red spots on my face and my left hand. i didn’t think anything of them because, in this tropical environment, we’re exposed to a number of strange flying and crawling things that bite. inevitably you end up with odd bug bites that sometimes hang around for a few days. this, however, was different.

the red marks stayed and grew. they didn’t itch as all red blotches on the skin are supposed to do, but they hurt like a bruise. i put some antibiotic cream on them for a day or so hoping that would cure them. it turns out it was the cat virus.

after about three days i began to worry a bit. the blotches grew and hurt more. they one on my arm turned white in the middle. i asked my friend if i could go and see a doctor.

the doctor’s office was in the middle of long xuyen. it was on the bottom floor of someone’s house. the sign out front said ‘dermatologist and heart disease’ two doctors were working in the same ‘office’. the ‘office’ was two pieces of white wood that were hanging from the ceiling. the room was about 10 feet long and 15 feet wide. the actual office was hidden behind the hanging wood. the waiting room was a row of metal chairs along a wall. we sat and listened to motorbikes and cars scream by.

i was waiting behind three old people. they were all accompanied by younger children and all had a difficult time getting up and around. one old man had spots on his face. one old lady had a sore on her arm and the third old lady had a mystery illness that could not be immediately seen. i waited thought about what it would be like to be old and have skin problems in long xuyen.

finally the doctor arrived. he had been out eating lunch. his motorcycle was not new, but respectable. it had a number of stickers advertising condoms on the front. his hair was long and he wore a hat from the 50’s. he treated the old people first and then it was my turn. i walked in the doctor’s office and sat down. i leaned against one of the wooden walls and it swayed back and forth. there was a short bed to one side, the doctor sitting in the middle, a nurse talking to the doctor and a young girl who handled the money and the medicine. the doctor asked me what was wrong with my arm. i explained what was wrong. he looked at my arm under a large lamp with a magnifying glass. he looked at my eye for a long while. he said something quickly to the nurse and she agreed.

the diagnosis. i had cat virus.

i have no idea what cat virus is or how one can acquire the virus without any contact with cats. i have no idea why one would call something a cat virus if it created red splotches on your skin that hurt like bruises. it should be called the painful red blotch virus. i guess there’s a reason for the name.

i was given medicine and told to rest at home for three to four days. i’m fine. no one worry. i’ve got jota by my side and a good book. the dog’ll surely chase away any cat in me. (couldn’t resist the pun. sorry.)