While cleaning and rearranging the office today I came across my box of Jared memories; notes and letters and pictures and silly things. I couldn’t resist sitting down and going through it all, and now I feel sad and a little weird and uncomfortable.

I know this because my legs are covered in bug bites.

All went well with the surgeon yesterday. He said it is healing fine and there is no need to cut out any more tissue. He gave me an antibiotic ointment to keep on it so it doesn’t get re-infected, and I am to visit him again next week for a checkup.

I am feeling much better about the whole thing now. It doesn’t hurt at all anymore. It’s just gross and ugly and I’ll be bandaged for the next 6 weeks or so.

(i realize some people don’t like to look at gross stuff like i do, so i’ve done a little kitty censoring, but if you’re curious, give ‘em a click)

I was a complete mess yesterday morning. I had the hardest time dragging myself out of bed because I knew I had to go back to the doctor and get my gauze changed. By the time I got there I was on the verge of a panic attack. I was shaking so hard and could barely breathe.

I felt slightly better when my new doctor walked in. She was young and pretty and seemed much more caring and gentle. She tried to be as careful as possible doing the change, and while it still hurt like hell, it wasn’t nearly as bad as when the sadist did it.

She was very concerned with the infection and wanted to get me to a surgeon right away for consultation. The only one she could find to take me couldn’t do it until this morning, so she sent me to the emergency room instead.

Everyone there was so nice. It is assumed that the abscess is the result of a brown recluse bite, but there is no way to know for sure. No one has tested me for MRSA, which I still don’t understand. The two ER doctors that I saw said it appears to be healing normal and I don’t need to keep it gauze packed. I literally let out a squeal of joy at that news.

They told me to keep it bandaged. I can take the bandage off to shower and let water rinse it out, then keep a gauze patch on it the rest of the day. I’m not to put any medication on it and just let nature run it’s course. They said to expect 6-8 weeks of this before it fully heals. And by then I will have earned an awesome scar.

So I left the hospital yesterday completely elated. I hadn’t felt so good and positive in days.

This morning I woke up stress free. I took a shower, showed my hole off to Victoria and Amanda (slumber party night), bandaged it up and was ready to go. No problems.

Then the doctor called…

She wanted to know what happened in E.R. yesterday. She was still very concerned and wasn’t 100% comfortable with their diagnosis. She set up an appointment with a surgeon for me on Monday. So now my happy mood is waning its way back to nervous and scared and stressed.

So this is what I’ve been dealing with for the past ten days. Jared and I woke up last Monday with strangeness. I had what seemed like a bug bite, and he had huge bruises on his knee and torso.

By Wednesday my leg was really swollen and painful, so I dragged myself to a doctor. He said it was most likely an infected bug bite, and blamed fleas since we have cats (although no fleas). He prescribed antibiotics and told me to use hot compresses to get it to come to a head.

By the next Monday, my leg looked like the photo on the right. It was so sore and hard to walk on and it just would not come out. I knew I needed to go back to the doctor and have it cut open, but being of the non-insurance-having variety, I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I went in Tuesday morning and they numbed my leg with seven shots of lidocaine (OUCH!) and then cut a hole in it. The doctor couldn’t get “it” all out, so they stuffed the hole with medicated gauze.

I had to go in yesterday to get that gauze changed, and it was the most excruciating thing ever. I was a sobbing, weeping mess all yesterday morning. And the best part is that I get to do it everyday for the next two weeks or so. And he’s talking surgery if it doesn’t clear up.

I currently have a hole the size of a bullet in my leg. You could stick a pinkie finger in there. Although, I would punch you because it would hurt like hell.

I’m so miserable and upset at this point that I just can’t even get on. I’m to be in Portland in two weeks, and I will need a leg, so this either needs to clear up or they need to get me my robot leg ASAP.

I just found Shady NAPPING IN THE LITTERBOX.

GROSS!!!!

My cats are totally losing it.

I gotta go drown her in the tub now….

When I woke up yesterday I had a sore throat. When I peeked inside I found this white, blistery spot. I must be dying.

I’ll have Crystal look at it tomorrow. She’s a registered nurse now. Yay for her!

Yesterday I had to venture outside to do some sawing and painting. I was out there for maybe 5 minutes. Upon returning to my safe haven, I discovered that I had at least 9 new bug bites. 9! That I could visibly see. That’s like a bite every 30 seconds.

I hate summer. I hate summer. I hate summer.

Jared has bought me so many different types of bug spray/lotion, and we have all kinds of repellent things around the yard, but nothing works. I get eaten alive no matter what.

I’m gonna try taking garlic pills and see if that helps any. I wonder if Keirsten gets bug bites.

Theresa and I got food poisoning. Yuck-o.

ps - Anne, your message was classic. I saved it.

Today I’m sharing long-distance nausea with Dustin. What’s going on? Sicksville is no fun. I had plans for the day, things to accomplish. Plus, I’m missing Rocky with KJ.

Tunes for happier times.

1. Björk - Earth Intruders (Mark ‘Spike’ Stent Extended Mix)
2. Battles - Atlas
3. The Knife - Heartbeats
4. Émilie Simon - Opium
5. Royce - Tuff Love
6. Thievery Corporation - A Gentle Dissolve (Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra remix)
7. RJD2 - Beyond
8. K-OS - The Rain
9. Luz Mob - Ella Se Fue
10. Forro In The Dark - Paraíba (featuring Miho Hatori)
11. At The End Of The Sky - Darkel
12. In the Waiting Line (Live) - Zero 7

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