OH. MY. GOD! The welt was flame red. The welt was not only not red yesterday, it wasn't even there. It grew like this overnight.
Last Monday or Tuesday, I noticed a little something back there. Like a tiny scab. I'd gotten a haircut Saturday and thought maybe my stylist nicked me with the scissors. When it didn't go away, I started rubbing OTC hydrocortisone cream on it. And didn't give it any thought until this morning, when it had suddenly grown into a big, hard, red welt.
My body chemistry is a little weird. I'm very allergic to bee sting and carry an epipen with me at all times. When visiting Dallas decades ago, I got bit by an ant and my foot swelled, but it happened almost instantly. The lag time this time bothered me. I never felt a bug bite or sting me. Why is my body reacting at least 5 days after the fact?
Also, the back of my neck is near my spine and my brain. If for some reason blood poisoning is coursing through my system, I don't like the proximity.
So I tried to calm down. I took a shower. I fed the cats. I put extra food and extra water down, just in case I was going to be away for a while. Then I went to the ER.
I hear horror stories all the time about Emergency Rooms, how they're full of moaning and sick people, how long the wait times are. But that is not at all what I experienced. I got there at 10:00 and by 11:30, I was off to Walgreen's, prescription in hand.
As I suspected, it's an allergic reaction to a bug bite of some kind. The welt is my body's way of "circling the wagons" to contain the poison in one area. Since I didn't have a fever and my lymph nodes felt normal, the NP was confident that the allergic reaction had remained local. But she said I was wise to come in when I did. There is no guarantee that it wouldn't spread. She prescribed a corticosteroid and heat treatments.
I got home, applied the cream, ate a little leftover pizza, and fell asleep. For four hours. Being scared is exhausting!
I'm pissed that my Sunday is gone, but I'm also grateful.
• I live in a neighborhood where quality healthcare is minutes away.
• For Medicare and my Medicare supplement plan. No one talked to me about money at the hospital, and the prescription cream cost me $2.
• My friend John's example. He never went to the doctor until he was absolutely forced to. He was afraid of what he would hear. He died in April, and I will never believe this outcome couldn't have been avoided or forestalled. I'm not saying God took him as an example, because I'm sure God doesn't work that way. But I do believe I'm meant to learn from and avoid John's suffering.
• I'm likely going to be OK. If this redness and swelling haven't lessened by Wednesday, I'm supposed to contact my dermatologist. That doesn't sound too scary, does it?
