Trip to ER

[solobiker]

Well, not sure where to start this but, on Sunday my DH and I were on a bike ride and about 13 miles into it I felt like something stung me in my upper thigh. We stopped and I looked at my leg and it seemed okay so we continued on for a 40 mile ride. Later that night the area where I was stung was a little warm, but I didn't think anything of it so I went to bed. On Monday the site was a little swollen and red and warm to touch,so I took an antihistimein. Well today I woke up and my leg was painful, warm, swollend and red from my upper thigh to my knee. I thought YIKES, this is not good. Well I went to work (I work in a health care facility) and asked my co-worker what she thought as I dont want to be a hypochondriac...well I dropped the pants to her an she immediatley said you are going to the hosp. I was so nervous that another co-worker took my there and sure enough they pumped me full of IV antibiotics and "sent" me home. If it does not get better by tomorrow I will have to be admitted. On top of that, when I went to drive home my car would not start, think it is the alternator ,so I had to hang out at work for an additonal 2 hours for DH to pick me up. THe good thing is I get a day off from work tomorrow.

[crazycanuck]

Oh my!!!

Do keep us updated on what may have stung you. I hope the antibiotics work and you leg heals quickly.

At least you get a day off work

C

[solobiker]

My diagnosis was cellulitis. Kind of a bummer

[Aggie_Ama]

Can you give us a less medical definition? My husband had a terrible reaction like this to being stung by a red wasp.Then he was stung my a yellow jacket and his hand blew up like the hamburger helper guy! Plenty of healing vibes to you!

[Python]

You could have been bitten by a horse-fly (also called Cleggs). They give you a nasty bite which often leads to cellulitis. One made a right mess of my husband's leg last year. He's got varicose veins in one leg and it went for that because the blood supply is much nearer the surface. That was last summer. In February this year the site where the worst bite was flared up and came out in a blister. We thought it was going to turn into a leg ulcer but we put witch hazel gel on it and it finally healed up after about a week.

Nasty things Cleggs and you don't normally know it's bitten you and had a meal from you until later as their saliva anaesthetises the area they bite. Once they've had their fill of your blood they fly off and when the area "thaws" out again it is very painful.

We had a lot of them last year but as we had a fairly cold and wet summer this year there haven't been so many of them (thankfully).

[LBTC]

Solo, that sounds awful! I'm glad you got medical attention and treatment! Let us know how you heal up.

Hugs and healing happy butterflies,
~T~

[ATL Laura]

Solo, the same thing happened to me about a month ago, but on my arm. When it started spreading I got nervous, and then when it started to branch out I went to the doctor. The first round of antibiotics didn't work very well, so they had to put me on something a little stronger, and that cleared it up...although there is still a small red bump at the sting site.

I work at an infectious disease research facility, and I'm mad at myself for not visiting my colleagues in the bacterial diseases group, it would have been cool to find out exactly what infected me...I know, I’m such a nerd

Please keep an eye on your infection, I wish you better luck than I had with the antibiotics!

[Mr. Bloom]

My diagnosis was cellulitis. Kind of a bummer

I've honestly never heard of this, I thought you were joking and saying you had cellulite on your bottom (I'm embarrassed to say that I'm telling the truthSorry ).

Now that I've looked this up, I see that it can be serious! Wow!

Did the infection come from the ride or did something else trigger the infection?

[solobiker]

I think it came from the bite, it probably didn't help matters that I continued to ride. I didn't think something like this would have happend. They did give me some heavy duty anitbiotics to take home and strongly suggested that I dont go to work tomorrow, as I am on my feet most of the day. My leg is about 1.5 to 2 inches bigger in diameter... and now it is my bulging quads from all the biking Thanks for all of your thoughts, I am supposed to the Drs tomorrow to check it out. S

[solobiker]

oh I saw my mistake in my above statements...what I wanted to say was that my leg was not larger due to all my biking, although I wish it was I think I should go rest as I am not typing very well. Take care to all of you
S

[solobiker]

Just an update, my leg is looking much better. It was about 3 inches larger in diameter with the swelling and is now only about 1 inch larger then normal and only slightly red. I have had to take the week off from any exercise to decrease the risk of further infection to the leg. I am just happy it has gotten better. From now on I am going to be quite nervous around anything that could sting me. I never want to go through that again.
This experience has certainly provided me with a different perspective on things. I occasionaly would be dissapointed that with all of the exercise that I do my legs weren't more trim and toned, but,you know what my legs are the only ones that I have and they are what allows me to bike, hike, run, ski, etc. I usually think this way but sometimes I get in that rut that I want that "perfect pair" that always seems to be out of reach. Sorry for my little personal "insight" but I just wanted to share. Take care to all of you

[Zen]

So you didn't have to suffer through the
'flu-like symptoms"? You're lucky. Was it cellulitis after all or just reaction to the bite?

[elk]

This experience has certainly provided me with a different perspective on things. I occasionaly would be dissapointed that with all of the exercise that I do my legs weren't more trim and toned, but,you know what my legs are the only ones that I have and they are what allows me to bike, hike, run, ski, etc. I usually think this way but sometimes I get in that rut that I want that "perfect pair" that always seems to be out of reach. Sorry for my little personal "insight" but I just wanted to share. Take care to all of you

Sorry to hear about your encounter...and I second your epiphany! Amen!

[solobiker]

definately cellulitis, I am not back to normal yet. My leg hurts a bit and I am still feeling a little under the weather so to speak. The area was a little bigger this morning as I was on my feet all day yesterday while at work.

[Zen]

Oh, SB! You should be better by now
Rest all weekend, no chores, shopping, nothing. If you aren't 100% by Monday please go back to the Dr.