...several days ago, and it's now getting so sore and swollen I'm getting worried. I first noticed it last Sunday and thought it was a mosquito bite, of which I always have several at the end of the weekend. I hadn't noticed getting bitten at all. Two or three days later, I realized it wasn't going away but getting larger. The skin doesn't itch, and the central area is now about the size of a quarter.

Yesterday I called my health insurance carrier's 24-hour nurse line, to see if they thought I needed to go to the doctor. I mean, if my doc would just look at it and say wow that looks bad but it's going to go away on its own, I figured I should save the $20. The nurse and I decided I wasn't having an allergic reaction, since that would have come on suddenly and been severe, but I'm not convinced there isn't something unpleasant going on.

The whole area (it's on my hipbone) is red, angry, swollen, and consistently painful even if I don't move it or hit it. The focal point is now turning a dull purple color, whereas earlier in the week it was red. The irritation around it has been spreading, and is now about the size of my hand, with my fingers straight but together.

Someone suggested it might be a spider bite. So what do you all think? Am I dying? I have no other symptoms except that tonight I'm tired and have a headache, but I think that may just be from the constant pain.

I can see my doctor in the morning, but if there's nothing to be done but wait for it to pass I don't want to waste the time and money. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Just call me "Little Ray of Sunshine". lol

OMIGOD!!!! I'm dying here!!!!! Oh wait... Alex was the one that got bit... hmmm.... still... what the HE Double Hockey Sticks is wrong with me... am giggling out of control over the multiplying babies!!!!! *snort*

Darcy

Darcy, I'm glad you're amused. I'm totally creeped out!

Good thing The Princess Bride is on TV. That always cheers me up.

Alex, please go to the dr. tomorrow A.M. It will be $20 well-spent for your peace of mind. You don't want to have to sit in the E.R. for 3 or 4 hours to find out the same thing that your dr. can tell you. Where do we send $$ for the "Rescue Alex" fund?

I LOVE the Princess Bride!!! One of my favs! Got it on video...

Ok, so my brother was in the Peace Corp in Paraguay and we went to visit him. A tiny worm DID crawl into the skin on my foot, lay it's eggs, and then eat the flesh. When I got back home I went to the doctor and he brought in all the doctors and nurses in the clinic to see. It was disgusting.

But you don't have that Alex...that was totally pain free, etc.

What I always worry about in Minnesota is Lyme's Disease. Do you have that in NJ? Get to the doctor because the sooner stuff is treated, the better.

Not that you have Lyme's disease. I'm sure it's nothing.

Keep us posted!!!

Megan

Okay Megan... that story stopped the giggles for sure!

Okay... I'm sure you have gone to a doctor by now Miss Alex?????? This sounds like something that really should be attended to!

I'm thinking your next post will be telling us what the doctor said????? Yes???

Calm down, ladies! The doctor's office doesn't open until 9:00 a.m., and then I don't know when they'll be able to see me. I promise to let you know what the news is.

A good thing is that it doesn't hurt as much today, though it's still red, swollen, and clearly still very irritated. But the pain is quite a bit better.

Stay tuned!

It's 10 a.m. in NJ, and I'm patiently awaiting your news.... :D

Hope all is well, Alex. Let me know where to send the $20.

THE VERDICT IS IN! I'm not dying, and there won't be any little babies to share. (Sorry, Donali. You'll just have to get your pets somewhere else. )

You all were right, of course, and it was a good thing I went because the doctor said it probably would have gotten worse--possibly a lot worse--if I let it go. She gave me an antibiotic and took blood to test for Lyme and whatever else might be lurking. The official diagnosis was "infected insect bite, advancing cellulitis" and I'm to take Augmentin for 10 days.

Thanks for all the encouragement, peeps! And I sprang for the $20.

Well, THANK GOD you are not dying! And thank you also for getting this taken care of.

That guy from work I was telling you about? I asked my sister, "When did John say he got that bite again?" and she said, "NOVEMBER." NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!! And I just saw him like 3 weeks ago, and he had that arm all wrapped up like it was broken!

So glad you didn't mess around with this. My BF won't let me have pets anyway, so glad the non-existent critters won't have to go homeless...

One last general comment for food for thought, directed at ALL of us (particularly myself):

If what Alexandra had described was really a bite on your CHILD (or beloved pet), would you have waited to seek medical attention or questioned the need for it? Would you have thought, "I should probably take Billy in, but I'd hate to waste the $20 if it's nothing."?

I think we all need to take a hard look about how we care (or don't care) for our own health. Why is it that we brush off for ourselves something we'd never poo-poo if it were happening to someone else?

I know that if my sister had that gallbladder-like attack I experienced earlier in the month, I would have been taking her to the emergency room kicking and screaming, instead of home to her bed like I made her do for me. I have chastized my mother for ignoring pains and symptoms that I myself would have ignored if they were mine.

I'm not suggesting that we all become hypochondriacs, but... There is a fine line between being too reactive and non-reactive.

Perhaps asking ourselves what we would do if it were a child in our care would help us strike a better balance.

At the very least, we should do what Alexandra did and get other people's opinions, and then hopefully act on the best consensus of advice if it did not conflict with our own better sense.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Good point, Donali. I can tell you that if this eruption had appeared on one of my children I would have immediately taken her for medical attention. No kidding.

I'm amazed your friend ignored something that had been festering for MONTHS!! Men are much more likely to do that, I think, than women. And of course a lot has to do with our access to medical care. I was really glad to be able to talk with a nurse earlier in the week, who gave me straight information on what to look out for. If she hadn't mentioned that infected bites will turn purple, I might not have realized that was something new.

Is there a white spot in the middle? I would get it checked out. Recluse spider bites spread and then flesh starts to be destroyed. Don't let it spread anymore. You go girl..

Thank goodness! Glad you got some answers from the dr. I don't have time to read my other posts right now. But I wanted to see how you were doing.