Last week,
something strange happened to me. Lala noticed it first, I didn’t. She asked, one
evening, “Are your hands blue?
No, of
course they weren’t, I said.
Only, hey, check it out, when I really looked at
them and quit telling her that I had blue undertones to my skin naturally, it
kinda DID kind of look like my hands were blue. I felt fine. A little cold, but
it was cold in the house. My hands didn’t hurt, weren’t tingling. They were
just blue.
I did a
little online research, only a bit, I swear, because I know that madness lives
at the end of that road, and decided it was nothing to worry about if it didn’t
happen again.
But then
Sunday night, Lala noticed it again. “Your hands! Are blue!”
“Are they?”
I wasn’t convinced, but they got rapidly bluer as the night wore on. A friend
came over and told me my hands looked as if they had been dyed. Both Lala
and she were worried, and they started me worrying a bit. My hands were SO blue.
Grey-blue, that moldy-blue look that skin gets when there’s not enough oxygen
going through it.
And I felt
fine. Completely fine. Again, quite cold, but dude, the house is cold and I’ve
been really tired, which makes my susceptibility to chills that much greater.
So I got in
the tub to warm up.
After a
while in the hot water, I’d warmed up. I put the book down and planned on just
lying there for a while, but I glanced down at my legs poking out of the
bubbles.
My thighs
were blue. I called Lala in and she confirmed: my legs were that ashen
grey-blue all the way down to my sock line, below which my feet were happy and
warm and pink.
What the
hell?
And you
know what? It still took me a few minutes to figure out.
Then it clicked. I started
scrubbing my legs and hands. I HAD washed my hands before this, of course, but
now I scrubbed them with all my might. The
bubbles turned blue. My skin went pink.
Dude.
New jeans,
from Gap. That I’d worn twice without washing first, the first time a week ago
and then again on Sunday night, when our friend had been over. I’d been
standing in the kitchen talking with her, my hands shoved into my back pocket,
my hands getting bluer and bluer as the night and the dye wore on.
Best diagnosis ever.
Annarella says
Unbelievable!!! x
Jennifer says
hahahahaha thx for the fun story and glad ur ok!
Leanne says
Wow, it’s such a relief that I’m not the only one this has ever happened to 🙂 The same thing happened to me about 10 years ago. My arms were kind of purply-blue. Since this was in the pre-look-it-up-online-omg-how-did-we-ever-survive days, I actually called a medical advice hotline about it. The nurse at the other end was stumped (no kidding). I never did call back to tell her that I found out that the problem was a purple sweatshirt I had recently purchased and worn a few times.
I’ve never told anyone (except my partner, who was there at the time) about this. But there maybe others who suffer from this (obviously) serious, recurring issue. We should start a campaign. At least now if anyone googles those symptoms, they’ll come upon your site 🙂
Rebekkah says
Oh, god. You had me so scared there for a moment. I can’t deal with another blogger or blogger family member with some terrible disease.
You’re just a blue jeans tease. But funny story, now that my heart is no longer in my throat.
(It reminds me of when a piece of red tissue paper got stuck to my leg at a pool party. My mom saw it, thought it was a huge gash, because the water made the color bleed, and I was absolutely hysterical until she looked closer and plucked it off my leg.)
Jill Smith says
Hooray for benign indigosis!
LaurieM says
hehhehehehheee… Gosh after the worry that was going on over at January One, you had me going there.
Nice to know you have friends and family to look out for you though. 🙂
maryse says
hahaha when i started reading that your thighs were blue, that’s when i knew to blame it on the jeans.
i’m glad to hear that it wasn’t anything more serious.
Kathleen says
omg….that is funny. but I was scared for a minute. you know, using my photographic memory to go over the medical encyclopedia in my head.
Laura from beautiful West Michigan says
Oh, how naughty you are, scaring us like that and then making us laugh! I’m SO glad it was the jeans and not a malfunctioning body!
Julie says
Bad girl! But completely forgiven for the laugh – I think it was the blue thighs that gave it away…
Liz says
Haaaha! I was getting worried as I read your post! 😀
amisha says
good lord woman, you almost gave me a heart attack! now laughing the nervous laughter of relief 🙂
Erika says
You brought back a memory from a few years ago – one Christmas when we had all our family over, including a brother-in-law who is a firefighter, our youngest son scared the pooh out of us. I had just changed his diaper and saw blue, blue, blue little legs staring up at me! So we stripped him down (chest is also blue, panic!) and called the brother-in-law into the kitchen under the bright light and he starts freaking out . . . Max thought this was hilarious and was laughing and giggling . . . obviously had more than enough oxygen in his system . . . then we realized the brand new Christmas jammies were the cause!
Maya says
Dude! I was scared there for a second. But what a funny story!
rho says
do you have Picts in your ancestory – could explain the bluish cast to your skin occasionally 😀
I have had it happen with shoes – blue feet – took me awhile to realize what it was too….
Michelle says
Holy crap, you had me so scared. And I laughed out loud when I got to the diagnosis.
carrster says
That is hilarious!! Totally sounds like something I would do and then freak myself out over. Hope your “condition” clears up fast!
alison says
That is so funny! You had me really worried, too.
Jeni says
Good grief, you scared me! But that’s a super funny story 🙂
Eve says
That’s a funny story – now! I can imagine it scared you! Next time, first try with washing and then start doing research on the internet!
Eve
karrie says
I hope when this inevitably happens to someone else, and they go searching the web, that they find this post and figure it out without worry!
Jean says
Lesson learned – always wash your clothes before wearing!
MaryB in Richmond says
My version: A friend’s son was in alcohol rehab, and was taking a medication which would make him violently ill if he drank alcohol. The big test: His sister’s out of town wedding.
His brother whispered to their mom that there was blood in the boy’s urine; he himself had witnessed it. So they’re all in hysterics that’s he’s violated his probation, blown the rehab, and done horrible damage to his system.
….until they confronted him, and he rolled his eyes and said “Guys! All I can drink is cranberry juice! Duh?”
Whew. Disaster narrowly averted!
terri says
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young lady, HOW could you wear new blue jeans without washing first? You certainly live on the edge! I’m glad the mystery was solved happily.
KT says
Thank goodness it was a laundry related event! Wish all fixes were that simple.
Marie says
Having worked in the garment industry for a number of years I never wear anything without washing it first. The reason our clothes are soft and “broken in” when we buy them is because they are heavily processed and not all of the chemicals are rinsed off when they are done. There’s some nasty stuff that gets left on the fabric, and that is not stuff you want on your skin!
Glad to hear you are all washed and well!
nicole says
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilarious!
meg says
whew! you had me freaked out to the point of skipping ahead to make sure you were okay. i would be so bummed if anything were seriously wrong!
you’re a constant source of smiles and fun over there. glad to hear it was just your new jeans!
Allison says
Wash All Jeans Before Wearing Or You Will Turn Blue! Thanks for the Public Service Message! And the laugh.
jen says
I totally just laughed so loud I startled my child, who was in the process of stealing a fingerless glove-in-progress.
Best diagnosis ever, indeed!
jodi says
Heee heee heee heee.
I LOVE you, darlin’! You make me smile with your tales of blueness. Muah.
scout says
As I was reading this I thought the blue jeans were cutting off your circulation and couldn’t figure out how that made your hands blue. LOL!
So funny!
Wanda says
My heart was in my throat for a minute, but was ever so happy to read it was just blue jeans dye staining your body! So funny!
caroline says
Whew! don’t scare me like that…
Rabbitch says
Oh noes! You have bluejeanitis!
I’m so glad it wasn’t anything else. (I should send you that purple sock yarn I have that leaches a bit … so your feet could match …)
rsher says
SILLY – WONDERFUL – and sooooo scary – glad you are in the pink –
Sil says
As I was reading I was wondering if it was dye from clothes…then voila! Dr. Sil hits that diagnosis on the head. Don’t wear white undies until you’ve washed them a few times.
Janice in GA says
Dude, I was SO getting worried, cuz there’s been some bad things happening to folks in Podcastland lately. (Blogland had been spared.)
I’m glad to know it was only a case of bludenim transferens. 🙂
Karma says
Ha! This happens to me *still* with a pair of super dark blue Levis that I have washed many times. It’s kind of annoying, though, if the blue rubs off on a favorite top — or pair of shoes — of a light color, so beware!
cari says
Evil woman. You scared the hell out of me!!!
I love you, you sadist.
Teresa says
This post is just more proof of what an excellent storyteller you are.
When’s that book gonna be published?
😉
Hugs ‘n more hugs!
becky says
Wow, that story was really scary until the jeans part! Then it was really funny. I’m glad it was just jeans and not some strange-o circulatory thing. Whoo.
Joan in Reno says
Wow! Thank goodness it wasn’t fatal!
Helen ***** says
I love it.
At first, I was worried… while it was just the hands…
but blue thighs and pink toes? never gonna be medical.
Phew!
I love that diagnosis!!
Nancy Jo Cullen says
Lord, that’s funny. I love scary stories like that. I would have totally gone for the I’m dying of a crazy blood disease, you seemed rather calm. I would have phoned my sister to let her know that she isn’t the next one to die, it’s me! And then I would have had to call back to let her know to stop dancing with relief she might be the next one to die after all…
carole says
omg, I totally htought you had Reynaud’s Syndrome!
Amanda says
Oh SWEET GOOD NIGHT. I would have had a paranoid conniption before I figured it out!
Norma says
OH.MY.GOD. Can you imagine the horror you would have felt (ok, AND the hilarity) if you had gone to the emergency room?
What an excellent and sweet diagnosis. !!!
Jennie says
I was sure you had some oxygen-deprivation problem and should have gone to the ER the previous night! Ha. Good thing no one asked *me*! 🙂
carolyn says
that is HILARIOUS!!! so something i would do!
Mariko says
Only you, my dear …
Celia says
I am SO relieved! Wash now, wear later.
Mia says
That is why I wash everything before I wear it. Blue hands indeed. Thanksfully it was nothing more drastic than you needing to do laundry.
Krista says
Hilarious – but only because the diagnosis was good. That would be pretty freaky.
Michelle Balmert says
Too funny! Sounds like something I’d do!
D R E W says
this happened to me the other day! it’s from a pair of super cute slim fit jeans i just bought.