Advice: get some medical training.

[bae]

If you haven't already, I'd like to encourage you all to get some decent medical training. Trauma + something like Wilderness First Responder, or if you have the time/interest/$$$, Wilderness EMT. The observational and diagnostic skills you pick up may save your own life.

I may have saved my own life the past few days largely because of my training. I short while ago, I noticed an oddly-behaving rash that didn't respond to any normal sane treatment. I dropped by my doctor to get an opinion, doctor wasn't terribly worried, issued me some useful meds. And, here's the key bit, because my doc is quite good, she took some tissue samples and sent them in for a culture, just in case.

Two days later, the rash exploded like wildfire. The perimeter moved an inch in about 4 hours. I called the doc, after hours.

MRSA and several other Very Bad Things came back in the cultures at about that same time my doc was meeting me *after hours* to look at it. Super magic hi-tech medications were sourced (tricky here on the island), and I'm dosed to the gills now, and likely will live.

If I hadn't had the training ,and experience seeing this sort of thing in other people, I might well have waited for a more convenient time to see the doc. This would likely have produced a very very poor outcome for me. The growth rate of the Bad Things is quite impressive, once your body decides it can't handle fighting it anymore on its own.

Be careful out there!

[iris lilies]

While I had nothing like MRSA, I, physician avoidant who sees a physician once a year only because it is her requirement, had a rash.

In 24 hours, I saw it grow and so I got me to a doc. I knew what it was, cellulitis, and like I said that’s nothing like MRSA, but when it grew in 24 hours, I figured I ain’t gonna be able to sit this one out. I knew it was easy to solve, just needed drugs, and sure enough it was.

bae I’m glad that serious problem has been attacked. Will the drugs really wipe it out?

[nswef]

Good for you!

[bae]

bae I’m glad that serious problem has been attacked. Will the drugs really wipe it out?

We shall see :-). There's about a 90% chance the meds I am on will work, if they don't, we have to upgrade to the extra special meds, which they try not to use unless necessary, so the bugs don't develop resistance to our remaining tool.

[Tybee]

Oh, man, take it easy, and heal up! Glad you got to the doc and she acted quickly!

[catherine]

Wow!! So glad you were wise enough to follow up!! Yes, the training you get to be a volunteer EMT is extensive... DH went through it, and he's all the better for it. He was able to appropriately support our next door neighbor while waiting for an ambulance. The neighbor was having a heart attack.

Hope you beat that bug quickly!

[KayLR]

Wow, Bae, glad you were on top of that! Good advice, thanks. I have a friend who just found a tick on himself after a leisurely walk in the woods. Made me think about that too. I rarely look at my own body too closely.

[pinkytoe]

Wow, that's scary, Bae! I have a physical issue right now I am trying to get help with but any further testing (heart echo) appointments are two months out. I am told by the doc's office to go to the ER if it worsens which seems like lousy medical care to me.

[frugal-one]

Imagine you also have to take high dose probiotics so as not to mess up your gut flora with those meds? Any idea how this was contracted? Wishing you only the best!

[bae]

Imagine you also have to take high dose probiotics so as not to mess up your gut flora with those meds? Any idea how this was contracted? Wishing you only the best!

Turns out the antibiotic cocktail they put me on oddly does not mess with your gut. Still, kimchee is an essential part of my diet anyways :-)

This could have been just a random community-sourced infection, though one of the strains is a radiation-resistant critter. My suspicion is that I picked it up on one of several hospital visits I have taken people to in the past few weeks, and the handful of random patients I’ve helped out.