I hate being sick
Oct. 12th, 2009 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
womzillaI really do. I hate the weakness, the fatigue, the way my brain runs in tight little circles over the same stupid ideas for hours. I hate not being able to sleep when I need it desperately, I hate not being able to work, I hate feeling helpless.
This started about a week ago. I have some varicose scarring on my legs because of my poor circulation and sedentary habits, and occasionally I get blisters, especially on my left shin, which in turn sometimes tear open. Apparently, shortly after I resumed my exercise regime*, I got several blisters at once, and when I bandaged them, I did a bad job of it, trapping moisture against the skin.
*More like an exercise shadow cabinet--half an hour of walking most days (five or six out of seven). But it did me a lot of good last year--I stopped when I was wiped out after my nose surgery and didn't start again for months. I'm already feeling some benefits from resuming.
Thursday last, I woke up in terrifying pain, comparable to multiple wasp stings on my leg. A long soak in the tub made it feel much better, as did wrapping it in gauze (as opposed to plastic bandages) and after an hour I was able to go back to sleep. My leg was somewhat sore off and on all day Friday, but it was worse again Saturday. However, I slept well into the afternoon and missed my opportunity to go to the urgent care clinic--the only place I can get medical treatment on a weekend other than an ER. I finally saw the doctor on Sunday.
Cellulitis is an ugly word--I keep wanting it to have more or fewer syllables--for a literally ugly condition. Patches of my skin are yellow-grey from pus in the tissue. Countering that are clusters of red spots, which look like a rash but are actually signs of healing--they're sites of angiogenesis in the damaged tissue. And there's some torn skin, which is never pleasant to look at. Treatment, at least at this stage, is straightforward--oral antibiotics, antibiotic lotion (to keep the skin moist), and more gauze. I get a followup visit with the doctor on Thursday.
The pain is not that bad now, easily managed with ibuprofen. However, the antibiotics are kicking my colon empty, always a joy.
In addition, I got a tetanus shot, since it has been ten years since my mugging, which was the last time I got one. True to form, a day later, my arm hurts like a sumbitch at the injection site.
And, of course, I'm exhausted.
Things are not pleasant at work right now--our entire office has just been rearranged, and my new workspace is smaller and mch noisier than my old one. All of this lead to me just sitting at my desk with my face in my hands for extended periods, or running to the toilet. (I wasn't a complete loss--I did get a couple of things done--but I was pretty overwhelmed.) My boss, who is a good one, didn't hesitate for a second to let me go home when I asked, and in fact called later this afternoon to recommend that I stay home tomorrow as well if there's any chance I would need the rest. I am going to sleep in and see how I feel when I wake up.
Still: Being sick. I didn't vote for it.
This started about a week ago. I have some varicose scarring on my legs because of my poor circulation and sedentary habits, and occasionally I get blisters, especially on my left shin, which in turn sometimes tear open. Apparently, shortly after I resumed my exercise regime*, I got several blisters at once, and when I bandaged them, I did a bad job of it, trapping moisture against the skin.
*More like an exercise shadow cabinet--half an hour of walking most days (five or six out of seven). But it did me a lot of good last year--I stopped when I was wiped out after my nose surgery and didn't start again for months. I'm already feeling some benefits from resuming.
Thursday last, I woke up in terrifying pain, comparable to multiple wasp stings on my leg. A long soak in the tub made it feel much better, as did wrapping it in gauze (as opposed to plastic bandages) and after an hour I was able to go back to sleep. My leg was somewhat sore off and on all day Friday, but it was worse again Saturday. However, I slept well into the afternoon and missed my opportunity to go to the urgent care clinic--the only place I can get medical treatment on a weekend other than an ER. I finally saw the doctor on Sunday.
Cellulitis is an ugly word--I keep wanting it to have more or fewer syllables--for a literally ugly condition. Patches of my skin are yellow-grey from pus in the tissue. Countering that are clusters of red spots, which look like a rash but are actually signs of healing--they're sites of angiogenesis in the damaged tissue. And there's some torn skin, which is never pleasant to look at. Treatment, at least at this stage, is straightforward--oral antibiotics, antibiotic lotion (to keep the skin moist), and more gauze. I get a followup visit with the doctor on Thursday.
The pain is not that bad now, easily managed with ibuprofen. However, the antibiotics are kicking my colon empty, always a joy.
In addition, I got a tetanus shot, since it has been ten years since my mugging, which was the last time I got one. True to form, a day later, my arm hurts like a sumbitch at the injection site.
And, of course, I'm exhausted.
Things are not pleasant at work right now--our entire office has just been rearranged, and my new workspace is smaller and mch noisier than my old one. All of this lead to me just sitting at my desk with my face in my hands for extended periods, or running to the toilet. (I wasn't a complete loss--I did get a couple of things done--but I was pretty overwhelmed.) My boss, who is a good one, didn't hesitate for a second to let me go home when I asked, and in fact called later this afternoon to recommend that I stay home tomorrow as well if there's any chance I would need the rest. I am going to sleep in and see how I feel when I wake up.
Still: Being sick. I didn't vote for it.
