Wellness

[dex]

@LilacTree  After reading the replies from the medical backgrounds here I would not take this lightly and get it looked at right away...please let us know that you are okay.

[LilacTree]

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@dex wrote:

@LilacTree  After reading the replies from the medical backgrounds here I would not take this lightly and get it looked at right away...please let us know that you are okay.

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@dex

I agree.  I went to the UCC today.  I will be seeing my doc on Monday.  I will definitely keep you all posted . . . please don't worry, I may complain a lot about the medical community, but I do see my doctors regularly.

[chickenbutt]

Years ago I had it.  It was horrible!

I had been playing with the dog and there was dirt.  Somehow or other, my hand got shoved into the dirt and it went into the joints of a couple of my fingers, through tears that occurred.

I cleaned my hand and thought everything was fine.  I didn't know anything about blood poisoning back then.    But the next day my hand was getting all bloated up and the pain was outrageous .

Of course, me being me, I went to work and when I got off I went to the doctor.  He told me what it was and that it was serious.  He even showed me that red line going up my arm toward the heart.  I'd heard of that but never thought about it.

He gave me a big shot of antibiotics and told me that if it wasn't better the next morning I HAD to go to the hospital.   It wasn't - it was worse.  So he said he'd meet me at the hospital.

I guess whatever bacteria got into those joints of my fingers from the dirt caused a pretty serious situation.  He said I could have lost my hand, my arm, or died.

Spent 4 days in the hospital on an IV and with the arm slung up.  Then I had to be at home for a while longer and put up a thing so I could hang my arm up for longer.   

I guess there are less serious types of cellulitis but not as fast moving as that.    I sure don't want to go through that again!    I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and that was excruciating.   My hand looked like a bloated dead rat on the dock.  It was red and purple and - just something like I've never seen outside of The Walking Dead.

Of course, then there was the horrible supervisor at my office who slammed the phone down on my husband (you could still do that then) when he told her that I was in the hospital.  That's a whole other deal.

[dex]

@chickenbutt That sounds very scary and painful...glad to hear that you healed without any body parts removed....I bet your b itchy supervisor would have been really miffed if your disease took your life and she had to be further inconvenienced...what a terrible heartless person.

[chickenbutt]

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Whatnow wrote:

@chickenbutt That sounds very scary and painful...glad to hear that you healed without any body parts removed....I bet your b itchy supervisor would have been really miffed if your disease took your life and she had to be further inconvenienced...what a terrible heartless person.

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Thanks!   Still have the scars on my fingers but I never had that happen again.  I, again being me, asked the doc if I was now going to have a proclivity for getting this again and/or what can I do to preclude it.

He said no but if I ever find myself in a situation with cuts where bacteria could have gotten into the JOINTS to just come in and have him clean it properly.   There was nothing I could have done because I didn't know what had happened.

I was just thinking 'geez, a few little cuts - what the heck!'.   But whatever bacteria was in that dirt outside quickly found its way into the joints and did its damage.

As for the awful woman - I couldn't believe she went off on him like that and then slammed the phone down as he was still talking to her.  I was laying right there in the hospital bed, being all hooked up, and heard him.  He didn't incite it.

Furthermore, I was ALWAYS the person who went to work, always early, always performed, even if I was half dead.  It wasn't like I ever called in sick.   The previous day when I had gone to work even though this thing was growing, she chose that day to monitor me.  I asked if there was any way she could put me in another day because of my hand.  It was my left hand so I was really struggling, plus the pain and all.  She said no, let's get to it.   I'm not a whiner, but I thought that was pretty nasty.  She didn't HAVE to do me that day.

[cotton4me]

My husband has had it twice in his leg and was hospitalized both times.  They gave him antibiotics by IV for several days.  We never knew how he got it. 

[Moonchilde]

It's worth noting that any cat bite or scratch that breaks the skin should mean very close observation, and a trip to the ER the minute it starts to redden. It may or may not be cat scratch fever, but it's potentially rapidly very dangerous in any case.

I had a friend who broke up a spat between her two cats. She ended up in the ER the following day with a hand twice its normal size and was massively pumped with IV antibiotics and had to return for more, and barely avoided losing her hand - in 24 hrs!

I was once accidentally scratched good on the shin by my startled kitty. I went through two complete courses of two different antibiotics to get rid of the cellulitis and also had a CT scan to make sure I didn't have osteomyelitis.

Cat scratches are serious.

[LilacTree]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

Years ago I had it.  It was horrible!

I had been playing with the dog and there was dirt.  Somehow or other, my hand got shoved into the dirt and it went into the joints of a couple of my fingers, through tears that occurred.

I cleaned my hand and thought everything was fine.  I didn't know anything about blood poisoning back then.    But the next day my hand was getting all bloated up and the pain was outrageous .

Of course, me being me, I went to work and when I got off I went to the doctor.  He told me what it was and that it was serious.  He even showed me that red line going up my arm toward the heart.  I'd heard of that but never thought about it.

He gave me a big shot of antibiotics and told me that if it wasn't better the next morning I HAD to go to the hospital.   It wasn't - it was worse.  So he said he'd meet me at the hospital.

I guess whatever bacteria got into those joints of my fingers from the dirt caused a pretty serious situation.  He said I could have lost my hand, my arm, or died.

Spent 4 days in the hospital on an IV and with the arm slung up.  Then I had to be at home for a while longer and put up a thing so I could hang my arm up for longer.   

I guess there are less serious types of cellulitis but not as fast moving as that.    I sure don't want to go through that again!    I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and that was excruciating.   My hand looked like a bloated dead rat on the dock.  It was red and purple and - just something like I've never seen outside of The Walking Dead.

Of course, then there was the horrible supervisor at my office who slammed the phone down on my husband (you could still do that then) when he told her that I was in the hospital.  That's a whole other deal.

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@chickenbutt

CB, we were always told as children that my mom's father died from "gangrene" from an injury while tending his garden.  We believed that for years.  It could have been untreated cellulitis, who knows?

But as we grew older my mom told us that she really never knew who her father was and this was the "story" her mother had told her.  Her mother was a really bad person, we kids were afraid of her.  Fortunately, she was in and out of our lives just as she had been for my poor mom, who had no siblings.

Your experience with this disorder sounds similar to what John experienced . . . very serious.  I am so happy you are still here!!

[dex]

@Moonchilde Thanks for that info.i didn't know anything that serious could come from a pets scratch.I would have been more concerned if it was a wild cat.

[chickenbutt]

Thanks, LT!    This happened to me some 24-25 years ago. Fortunately, back then, I was still a career person and had outstanding medical insurance.    I guess the good thing about it advancing SO quickly is that it forced me to go to the doc (I wasn't one who would run to the doc for just anything).

It happened one day.  Went to work next day (it was already blown up and hurting big time) until mid-afternoon (I worked like 7-3).  To doc when I got off work.  Next morning in hospital.   The line was halfway up my arm already!

So, if you have something that seems serious, I would advise you go to the doctor sooner than later.    I could not possibly have waited that many days because I would have, at the very least, lost my hand by then.  That would sukk because I don't do well with the right hand!  hehe