My First Trip to the ED

Well, I am miffed.

On Friday afternoon, I looked down at my leg and discovered a rather large bug bite on the back of my knee. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the next morning I woke up and it was considerably larger. So, I showed it to my mother and asked her what she thought. She assumed it was a spider bite, so I went to the literature to see what they said about it. After determining that I had not been bitten by A)a Black widow B)a Brown recluse or C)a Stingray, we reached the conclusion the books were useless.

I ignored it for much of Saturday. I went on an abbreviated run and then shopping. During shopping, it started to get more stiff. Afterwards, we determined that the swelling had increased. Later that night, a track mark developed along the blood vessel on the inside of my thigh. I started to get a little concerned, but an internet search seemed to indicate that there wasn't much to do for it. We decided to wait and see if it would resolve.

Today, I woke up to a increased track mark and increased stiffness. I went on the bike ride with Mom anyway, but I was having problems bending my knee as we progressed. It wasn't so bad when the muscle was warmed up, but getting on and off my bike was getting painful. My knee got even more stiff when I came home and the track mark became puffy and painful.

So, this evening we went down to the Chester hospital ED. They took a look and put me on an IV antibiotic and proscribed an oral one. I suppose it was a good experience, but I HATE needles and I have having needing stuck in me. Waiting 30 minutes for an IV to finish was not fun. Plus - spurting blood. Didn't really bother me, but I hated having that catheter in me.

Now we're waiting. They told me to come back tomorrow, but I don't think I will. Mom said the next step is to admit me and give me IV antibiotics for 24 hours. I have to work, and I can't call out sick. I was shocked when they told me they were going to start an IV - I really hadn't thought it was that serious. I can't do the race tomorrow, which pisses me off. But if I'm not going to show up at the ED, I'd better not push it.

Hopefully, this IV will fix it and I'll be able to bend my knee again. The location of the bite is terrible - it's really hard to keep your knee straight and still be mobile.

Bleah. I did nothing to deserve this. How irritating.