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.
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.
2 Comments:
Whoa --
My first fear would be Lyme, of course. I am very glad that your instincts said: "Just in case..." because you know from watching a good friend go through MRSA that it can be a long haul to cure it, and a few can't be cured. MRSA is perhaps the only thing I fear more than unchecked third Stage Lyme.
Okay...Ebola is scarier than...well, at least Ebola is fast, as opposed to these other two. May this be merely what used to be the common, curable staph -- uncomfortable but treatable.
I don't even remember what the side effects of Keflex are -- there were so many other things that could be causing the symptoms! May this be over quickly so you may return to the joys of cycling.
Are you cycling to work, too? Or is a work ride impractical?
Nope, not possible to cycle to work. I live 30 miles away.
Ok, so I suppose, if I was seriously training for a marathon, I would eventually work up to 60 miles a day. Then the ride would not seem so great an obstacle.
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