......on a mild December day......
......I finished my last final.
Congrats. You completed something mundane. Just like everybody else. Woo......
Yes, I know. Such an achievement. But I finished earlier than most people and as such, had a few days to just relax. Or so I thought.
Right around this time, I found two red bumps on my leg. It was DC and it had been super unusually warm out, so I had been walking around to my finals in yoga capris and rolling up the hems of my jeans. I thought it might be a bug bite, or worst case, the apartment cat had fleas.
I finished my finals on a Thursday; my dad arrived at the apartment on Sunday to load up the car and drive back. Sunday, I ran to the store because we were outta bandaids and had no Neosporin. On Monday, we drove home, and my feet were propped on the dashboard so I could scratch my ankles. The "bites" were getting itchy.
Itch scritch scratch
On Tuesday, my mom said they looked worrisome. I now had big patch bandaids on both my legs and the bites had turned into a weeping rash.
Gross
On Wednesday, my parents thought I might have a staph infection. Who knows where I picked that up. But we called the doctor's and made an appointment.
On Friday, the doctor told me I probably have poison ivy. Which was complete bullshit, and made no sense because the only thing that I walked through in the previous week was doorways. As a "just in case", because neither my dad nor I seemed to accept that answer, the doctor bound my legs in gauze pads and ACE bandages and wrote me a prescription that would take care of mild staph. Keep in mind, staph has a strain called MRSA that is hard to kill (the MR stand for Medically Resistant) and can be super damaging if left untreated.
On Saturday, I rebound my legs several times and ate one meal, courtesy of medication that all but killed my appetite.
On Sunday, we got nervous. In a week's time, what started out looking like twin bites now had become a really bad rash that was still growing.
On Monday, I went to the ER.
It was 3 days before Christmas, and I spent my afternoon sitting in a chair with my legs wrapped in ACE bandages watching people bleed and puke their guts out nearby. And lucky me! I found a book in my purse.
Ummm.....
In retrospect, bad choice to keep in my purse.
By the time I was finally let in, it took mere minutes. Yes, I had staph. Weird, the doctor shouldn't've given me that medication, it's not the one they're supposed to prescribe. And yes, keep bandaging my legs. Here, take this new prescription and
By the time I was finally let in, it took mere minutes. Yes, I had staph. Weird, the doctor shouldn't've given me that medication, it's not the one they're supposed to prescribe. And yes, keep bandaging my legs. Here, take this new prescription and
Well, it felt like that
I spent the next two months bandaging my legs. I had two rounds of the new medication, two medicated creams, and $100 worth of gauze pads. In total, I saw four doctors and a dermatologist. I had to drop a scuba diving class. And all because somehow I picked up a bad skin infection instead of my usual post-finals cold.
I think next time, I'll take that cold.
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