Day 305

Here we go again.

On Friday November 16 I noticed a small red bump on my upper left thigh. It looked just like a mosquito bite which didn't surprise me because we have mosquitoes all over out here. I did think it was odd that it didn't itch. 

Fast forward to Monday. The bump had become much bigger and was beginning to hurt. I showed it to Mom and she said it looked just like a bug bite she had a few weeks ago. She let me borrow this cream that got rid of her bite in a couple of days. That Wednesday night, I had had enough. My bump was red, swollen and really painful. I headed to the InstaCare. The doctor took one look, touched it and said "Definitely not a bug bite. It's probably an infected ingrown hair. I'm going to give you an antibiotic but you might have to come back to get it lanced."

Awesome.

I went through the Thanksgiving weekend constantly covering my bump with my hand in fear of something touching it because it hurt so bad. Come Saturday, it was almost unbearable. I thought about going back to InstaCare but I figured I needed to be more patient with the antibiotic and let it do its job. 

On Sunday I finally broke down and called InstaCare. The nurse looked up my chart and said that in the doctor's notes he had written to come back in 3 days if it wasn't better. My anxiety shot through the roof knowing what was to come next. Luckily Eric was home because I don't think I could have gone through this process alone. 

We made the trek to Bountiful and got in pretty quick. The doctor there was named Franziska and was as cute as could be. She told us she was from Switzerland and she just helped me relax a little. That was until she brought in the numbing shot. I laid down on the papery bed and had Eric come hold my hand. The shot pinch wasn't too bad, it was when the fluid started to flow that I lost it. I said "ow" maybe 20 times, tightened my grip on Eric's hand, started to cry, then finally panicked and said to take it out. I don't know if she took it out because I asked or if I had just timed it well. I have never felt pain like that before. 

As the liquid from the shot spread out, it made the redness disappear for a bit creating the picture above. It still hurt to me so every now and then I had Eric touch it to make sure I couldn't feel it because there was no way I was going to let the doctor cut anything if I could still feel it. After awhile though I was feeling good. Eric had made sure to keep telling me to just play Where's My Water on my phone to stay distracted. 

Franziska came back and it was knife time. I laid back down, not wanting to see her make the initial cut. I felt the pressure and then lots of liquid running down my leg. That's when I got curious and looked up. She gave it some squeezes to get all the stuff out. I guess lots came out when she cut it, at least that's what Eric said. I was pretty fascinated, until she got her scissors, stuck them in the hole and opened them to widen the incision. That's when I laid back down and went wide eyed. Even typing it makes me feel queasy.

 

She flushed it out good with some water, stuffed some long stringy gauze inside it then bandaged it up. She came back with prescriptions for Lortab and a topical ointment to numb it when I clean it. We were then on our way. All the pharmacies around us were closed because it was Sunday night so we just stopped at Harmons to get some extra large bandaids and headed home. 

I did not sleep at all that night. My leg hurt so bad and I could only lay on my back so I had a hard time getting comfortable. With how much pain I was in, I called in sick to work. I still had to go the pharmacy though. Looking back now, I should have called someone to come help me. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to drive, especially since I have a clutch. It was horrible. I got to Harmons, turned in my paper, headed to the waiting area and broke down crying. Luckily Emily answered her phone and told me a funny story to calm me down. The pharmacist recognized me from when I filled my antibiotic prescription so she started asking me what was going on. She's really nice so it was relaxing to have someone sweet helping me. 

When I got home I noticed a blood spot on my bandage. On my paper from InstaCare it said to call them if the bleeding soaks through so I did. I got the nurses desk and left a message. This was at 9:30 am. I didn't hear back from then today, so 24 hours later. Some help they were. I took a Lortab, which I was hesitant about because last time it made me sick to my stomach. But this time time it seemed to help and the pain subsided and I was able to sleep. It was so nice that I decided to take another Lortab a few hours later. That's when trouble started. 

Around 6 I started to get real nauseous. Eric called to see if I wanted something for dinner and I actually thought Cafe Rio sounded good. I was wrong. Eric got home and my nausea was worse and I wasn't able to eat anything. Eric said he was willing to help me change my bandaging so we headed to the bathroom. Pulling the tape off my skin and gauze was awful. It was like pulling off duct tape. I think it took me about 10 minutes. I finally got the tape off only to realize the gauze was stuck to my wound. Yuck. Eric suggested that I stand in the shower and let the water get it soaked so that I could take it off. It worked, just too well. I was washing my arm pits when I felt it peel off.  Not only did the square gauze come off, but it pulled out the stringy gauze with it. So painful. I stood there gasping, wincing, and crying.

I got calmed down, dried off and then Eric got my topical ointment so that we could numb it before cleaning it. I sat on the edge of tub and tried not to watch. When he was done, I knew something was wrong. Luckily I was directly across from the toilet because it came out of nowhere. I was pretty sure everything in my stomach at that point came up. I felt so much better afterwards. Plus, the numbing ointment was kicking in. I had to wait about 30 minutes before cleaning so I went back to the couch. Eric started to get some of his stuff done that he hadn't been able to touch since coming home due to me. I saw him walk back into the bathroom to clean the toilet due to my episode, when it hit me again. I got up, told him to wait, walked into the bathroom but didn't quite make it. 

Poor Eric. Here he was dealing with a hysterical wife who wouldn't stop crying and now he has to clean up after her. I felt so bad. I tried my best to clean up what I could but I mostly sat there like a slug. Again though, I felt much better. Even after all this, Eric was still willing to help me clean my wound. I didn't look at all in fear of throwing up again. To clean it we have to mix 1:1 water and hydrogen peroxide then use q tips in and around the wound. Eric said it was really bubbly. I wish I could have watched because I like watching the fizz from hydrogen peroxide, but this was just too much. 

When he was done, he even helped me put some more gauze on it and bandage it up. He is seriously a saint. My favorite is that he didn't get mad that I didn't reach the toilet the second time. All he said was "Well, if there's a next time, just try to get here faster" in a really soft voice. I love him.

I decided to skip work again today which has been hard. I feel guilty because I know people are having to pick up my slack and I wish I could do more. It feels better today and not as painful. We're thinking that yesterday was so painful because of that stringy gauze that was inside of it.

So here I lay on the couch, wanting to get things done but can't really move. I did turn the dryer on, that was a big moment. And I have plans on pulling the clothes out of the dryer to fold them. I might need to give myself a pep talk for that one. 

To leave on a happy note, here's a picture I stole from Jackie because I love it so much. 

Just me and Abe holding some bunnies