Yikes! That looks awful.

My elderly father-in-law got cellulitis in his middle finger a couple of years ago. The finger swelled up like a sausage, and he had to be hospitalized. I guess they are more careful with the elderly. He was on IV antibiotics for awhile, then very high-dose antibiotics after going home. It just wouldn't get better, so finally they had to do some surgery, requiring a second hospitalization. We were petrified the infection would get into his bloodstream and turn deadly or that he'd lose the finger. Fortunately, he finally responded to the antibiotics and is fine now, but it was scary. Definitely not something to mess with.

We aren't sure but assume he got the infection from gardening, some sort of bacteria in the soil. Did not know that insect bites could cause this condition -- is the bacteria from the insect itself, or from scratching the bite (bacteria from your hands?)

GOOD LUCK!