Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Monday, September 26, 2016

I've been stuck three times today

Good news: I probably don't have cellulitis,  although my nurse practitioner did take a couple of cultures just in case.  She had to take a picture with her phone and blow it up to see the fang marks; since I haven't been out in the woods,  where I could pick up a tick,  the most likely culprit is a spider.  For some reason (probably the hydrocortisone cream), the redness had gone down,  leaving the dark red mark but not the lighter red,  and you could see a raised red bite this afternoon.

Because I am at risk for an infection,  though,  she took blood work and had an assistant give me a shot in my butt (an antibiotic) and put me on an oral one as well.  I was kind of embarrassed that it was just a bite,  but she said I absolutely should have come in,  because it could have been cellulitis,  and it's an easy thing to take care of if you catch early,  but can be serious if not. While I was there,  I told her about my neck pain flare-up,  and she's sending me back to PT.  Yay.  It has been better today.  I'd say on a scale of 1-10, it was about a 4 or 5, whereas it has been about an 8 this past week most days.

The third stick was this morning's flu shot.  I always get them; they're free at work.  Since I've been getting them,  I haven't had the flu; the last time I did have it,  I was out for four days.  Let's hope it works great this year.

After my appointment,  I decided to stop by the apartment for some water and food,  then went over to my friend's and did some shopping and some other small things for him.  I got home about 8, and now I'm listening to music and I may do some reading.  Tomorrow I have my first appointment with my new therapist,  after work.  I'm glad he has evening hours.  Wednesday I have a gynaecology appointment.  There were a couple of late appointments my friend needed to have me take him to,  but he's going to reschedule them,  so my week just got a little quieter.  That means I can go Wednesday to the pharmacy for the antibiotic.  Today would have been pushing it; they're a great independent pharmacy,  but they're clear across town and close at 6; I got out of the appointment after 5. But the injection should help in the meantime.  I had thought to get my allergy shots today,  but I've been poked enough today,  and I figured it would be bad to do a shot in my right arm on the same day as the flu vaccination,  as I get two allergy shots,  one in each arm.  So I'll try to do that some other day this week.

Okay,  I think I'll sign off for now.  Hope you're having a good day.

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