Human Frailty

How fragile is the human body, and how resilient it can be (with the proper care).

 

I have played with my cat for many years, petting and wrestling, and being scratched and bitten (often breaking the skin)… all to no avail. Until recently.

 

My cat punctured me on my right hand. The tooth went in pretty deep, and it hurt. I washed it with soap and water, and I put peroxide on it, then covered it with antibacterial ointment and a band-aid… all to no avail.

 

Later that evening it was still sore, and the next morning, it was as sore or maybe a little worse, and beginning to swell ever so slightly. I called the doctor (on my wife’s prompting…) and asked him to call in some antibiotics for me. He did. I got them, and couldn’t take them until 4 pm since I had taken multi vitamins that morning, and the box said “not within 8 hours of having taken multivitamins…” so, by 4 pm I took one, and by then my hand was definatlely getting swollen and sore. I was also beginning to feel achey (like the flu, all in my back), and my arm was actually sore in several places up to my bicep.

 

About an hour later, I noticed some slight pink area beginning to spread from my hand down my wrist, so I went to the ER. This was about 5 or 6 pm. They marked on my hand with a pen to register where the pink was at that time, so they could watch it spreading (if it did). And it did. Within an hour or so, I had 3 distinct pink streaks flowing down my wrist, and up towards my elbow. That was starting to concern me.

 

By 11 pm, they decided to let a doctor actually see me, and they did some blood work, and gave me an IV, and decided to admit me into the hospital. By this time, I was  shaking with the chills (I’m usually pretty warm natured), and was very achey, and my arm had three strong streaks from my wrist to the inside of my elbow, then two more streaks from there around toward my armpit.

 

Over night, they gave me 4 or 5 bags full of antibitoics (via IV), and around 4 am I got some vicoden (and soon after, some blessed rest). I was getting another bag of meds around 6 am, and noticed that the pain was subsiding, and the swelling and streaking had at least slowed down, if not stopped.

 

By mid day, I was feeling much better, and they said that the doc would be in to see me, and decide to either release me or keep me another day.

 

They ran more bloodwork around 5 pm, and let me go at 6 pm, with two different prescriptions for antibiotics.

 

I was sore for most of the next week, but definitely on the mend. I was told that if the infection which had overwhelmed my lymph system had spread to my heart (and it was getting real close that first evening), that it would have become blood poisoning, which would have been way more difficult to treat, and which can also be fatal! All from one little bite from my friendly, loving, indoor housecat!

 

Well, I’m all over the meds now, and all healed up… and back to petting the cat (thought not playing as rough…)

 

 

Regards,
Scott