Arggh. Off to the doctor this afternoon, thereby missing three meetings I really didn't want to miss. (Yeah, I know. Don't tell Rudder. I get enoughpointy hair jokes from him as it is.) The worst of it is, I just know I'll get there and wait forty-five minutes just to have a nurse practitioner spend five minutes with me and say "Oh, that's nothing. You're fine. Go home." By then it will be 3:30 and way too late to get back to work in time to do anything useful, though I will at least check email from home.
However, I've had both the nurse on the handy consulting line my health insurance provides (it really is a nice benefit) and the NP at my doctor's office tell me I really should go in, so go I will.
What it is, is a bump. Two, actually -- well, technically three. Yesterday morning, I noticed what I thought were two mosquito bites, a big one on my hip and a little one below my butt. Right now my state is leading the nation in cases of West Nile Virus, all within this country, so that's already something to monitor. Lat night I noticed the big bite was bigger, about an inch and a half across, red, and a little itchy. Then I noticed that the lymph gland in my right groin, a few inches over from the big bite, was swollen and a little painful to touch. This morning it was the same, except the big bite was flattened, red, hot to touch, and has a little red dot in the middle. So I called the nurse on the phone service and told her all about it, plus the fact that I'm leaving to go out of state tomorrow night. She told me to call my doctor and if they couldn't have an actual nurse talk to me, to go to an urgent care facility. Good girl that I am, I did as directed. And of course they didn't have an appointment open tomorrow when I'm free, so I have to go this afternoon.
That leg feels cold now, so maybe it's just as well.
My theory is that it's a spider bite and the gland is just working at filtering whatever toxins make spider bites swell up in the first place. I somehow doubt a doctor can do anything.
Later note: the NP guessed that it was probably a mosquito bite originally (spider bites show two holes) but said it looked like it was starting to become cellulitis[1] so he said it was a good thing I'd come in, put me on an antibiotic, and told me to use heat pads a few times a day. Sometimes it is good to vist the doctor.
[1]Not that kind of cellulitis. "Inflammation of the skin related to infection (cellulitis) commonly occurs as a result of abrasions of the skin. When abrasions or puncture wounds occur, bacteria on the surface of the skin can invade the deeper layers of the skin. This causes inflamed skin characterized by heat, redness, warmth, and swelling. The most common bacteria that cause cellulitis include Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. Patients can have an associated low-grade fever. Cellulitis generally requires antibiotic treatment, either orally or intravenously. Heat application can help in the healing process. " from the U of Miami's Med School Glossary.
Posted by dichroic at July 1, 2004 11:57 AM