Well, MRSA it is

And I have a sudden urge to disinfect everything in sight.

Apparently, the culture results say that the best drug to use for my version of this nasty little bug is Bactrim DS and good old Tetracyclin. Both require me to avoid the sun as much as possible. If I didn't know that my doctor was working hard to clear up this infection as quickly as possible, I'd swear he was looking for any way possible to keep me from exercising. So, I start the new drugs tonight. Hopefully, the healing will continue progressing rapidly and come Wednesday, just maybe my doctor will allow me to do exercise that causes me to break a sweat. Ok, so it will have to be done indoors or after the sun sets for the next 7 days, but it would be better than having a frustrated me slowly bouncing off the walls for the next week. Slowly, because I mustn't take a chance of sweat getting into what little is left of the wound. Ugh.

Yes, I make a rotten patient. Mainly because I have no patience when it comes to me being ill.

Ok, so how bad can a bug bite be?

Not bad at all, in most cases.

I have pets. I have friends who have pets. I hike. And I live in a warm climate. The result--I taste good to bugs and I get bit quite often. Well, unless I remember to wear my handy dandy OFF insect repellant. Even if I remember, it does wear off after a while.

Mosquitoes and Fleas are my personal bain. Their bites always result in a nasty red welt. Flea bites have the added distraction of a fast forming and popping blister that leaves a pit right in the center of the welt. Occassionally, that bite gets a bit more inflamed than it ought to. Then out come the hydrogen peroxide, neosporin and bandage. Within a few days all is back to normal. No evidence of a bite remains.

And so it was with the latest ugly bite on the back of my right calf. All was healing well. It looked like I might be able to put the bandage aside within a couple days. Was I ever wrong.

A week ago Friday, we were at the movies--Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D--when I whacked the bite on the corner of a seat. I hit it so hard that I curled up in pain (tears in the eyes, the whole bit). Of course, we thought I just hit my calf in the right place, sort of like the funny bone in the arm. :-)

Next morning I had a bruise and a blood filled grey ring around the bite. Sunday, that grey ring was more swollen and my leg was starting to hurt. Monday, the ring broke open and drained, my leg was sore but felt and looked much better. The inflamation was retreating again. Good, I thought, but I think I will call the Doctor in the morning. There hadn't been a chance to call that day.

Tuesday morning I woke up to find blood gushing out of my leg. I managed to stop the bleeding and I did call the Doctor. Meanwhile, my leg started feeling a lot better and looking better to. It was still ugly though. I couldn't get an appointment until mid-day Wednesday.

The Doctor took one look at it, informed me that there is a major outbreak of staph in our area, took a swab for a culture, prescribed Keflex (antibiotic for those who don't know) and sent me off for a CBC, and blood tests to make certain that my liver and kidneys were functioning well and that my mineral and glucose and electrolyte levels were good. I spent the rest of the day dealing with the side effects of Keflex, which aren't fun, and sleeping.

I continued to change the dressing 3 times a day and the wound continued to look much nicer at a very rapid rate. Then it was back to the Doctor on Friday morning. It looks much better he says, but I am worried about the fact that it is still draining. Your blood tests came out great, actually terrific. Everything, cholesterol included, was on the really good end of normal. Blood pressure was 122/80. He never even brought up the fact that I am over weight. I'm healthy and the infection hasn't gone any further than my leg. Though we still don't have the results of the culture. We should have those Monday. I see the Doctor again on Wednesday, but they will call me Monday if I need to change medication. I doubt that I have MRSA, but I know that is what they are worried about.

Meanwhile, at the rate the wound is healing, it is likely to be completely or nearly healed on Wednesday. My fear now is that it is healing too fast and will have to be lanced. Regardless, for now and the last week and a half, I have been on restricted physical activity. I'm not allowed to workout if it will cause me to sweat or there is any possibility, no matter how slight, of dirt getting under the dressing and into the wound. He didn't even like the idea of me going for a walk on the street and wasn't crazy about the gym either. I am going to try to go to the gym today though. However, I will be very careful that the dressing on my leg is fresh and that nothing gets to it. The latest outbreak of staph among the public has been mainly among the atheletic and atheletically inclined and gyms are a great place to pick it up.

So the moral, even though I don't have my results, no matter how minor the cut or scrape or bite, be certain to treat it carefully. A slight infection can unexpectedly turn into something deadly within a couple of days.

I have seen first hand how bad these infections can get. Right now, I am feeling very lucky.

Breaking and entering

Honest, your honour, we didn't steal anything.

Ok, so it really wasn't anything like that at all. I have a friend visiting from Montana for the month. She's here to clean out her fathers house before it is sold. A sad, haunting and stressful time for her. Her father passed on only a couple months ago. So, in an effort to make certain she gets time away from her task and the emotional strain it involves, many of her local friends have been entertaining her on the weekends. My room-mate and I take our turns as well.

Last night we surprised her by kidnapping her and taking her to see Mama Mia, which she enjoyed. This morning, ok more like this afternoon, we took her out for brunch. She had to be back by 3:30pm because she had a 5pm dinner date with another friend. We actually got her home on time, only to discover that she had left her keys inside on the stairway. She was locked out.

No problem, I said. Last week you forgot to lock the sliding glass door in the back and I easily broke in. So we tried the door and every window on the first floor. No luck. All were very securely locked. But up there on the second floor were two bedroom windows with nothing but the screen between us and entry. Well, if you ignore the twenty feet above the ground. Great! Now all we need is a ladder. Surely one of the neighbours will have one.

So off my friend went to her neighbours to see if she could find a ladder, or possibly another set of keys that had previously not been mentioned. No one had keys, but we did find a ladder that was about eight feet short of what we needed.

And in the backyard there was a fairly sturdy though unlevel picnic table. Luckily, it was light and we were able to move it easily. Directly under a window went the table. On top of the table went the ladder. My friend and I steadied the ladder while my room-mate climbed up and removed the screen. Then climbed up to the very tippy top step of the folding ladder--the one you're not supposed to stand on--and figured out a way to hoist his body slowly into the window. We weren't at all certain he would be able to lift himself the rest of the way. There was that fear that he would fall and splatter himself all over the pool patio. Then what would we do? My friend is too short to reach the window from the top of the ladder and I have a leg injury that prevents me from climbing the ladder. Call a locksmith? Hmmm, maybe we should have done that in the first place? Nah, that would be too easy.

Then, of course, my room-mate heads out the front door rather than coming to the back where we were standing. Where are they, he wondered as we pounded on the glass of the rear door and laughed. We hadn't told him to open the back door instead. Sheesh. At least he remembered to grab the keys so that we wouldn't be locked out again. :-)

And now my friend has an adventure to share with her evenings date and with her husband and children. The latter arrive in a couple of weeks.

All in all it was a fun and uneventful day.

Movies Scene

Mama Mia--It will have you bouncing in your seats. A do not miss for all fans of Abba, and anyone else who just wants to have a good time and see a fun and uplifting film. The movie is at least as good as the play. I've seen both.

My rating--A very difficult movie to fall asleep in. And I have slept through many. I can't say the same for the previews before the movie. :-)