What a Week!

Somehow, over Mother's Day weekend, I managed to scratch my right leg, just above the ankle. Instead of reacting properly to a dose of antibiotic ointment and a bandaid, it kept getting worse, more red, more swollen, and the surrounding flesh showed signs of inflammation. By Friday evening, it was quite painful and looked truly ugly. DH and I both thought "Staphylococcus" so I made the trek to the local hospital Emergency Room. They agreed it was a staph infection, gave me a strong antibiotic tablet and a prescription for more of same, and sent me home.

During the night, I developed a congested chest and terrible cough, and by 4:00am was having difficulty breathing. So back I went to the ER, where more tests were run, indicating fluid around the lungs and heart, and pointing to pneumonia. I spent last night in the hospital, and was given several doses of intravenous antibiotics to combat both infections, as well as IV diuretics to help remove the excess fluid. By late in the day, everything was back to normal, so the doctor decided to let me come home.

There was no clear diagnosis, but apparently the lungs were affected by an interaction between the antibiotic and one of the other medications I take.

In the end, all is well, but what I wonder is "why does the vampire phlebotomist always draw blood at 5:00am?"