NOT COVID-19
April 17, 2020, Friday
My daughter sent me a long email yesterday, describing her four-day "adventure" with an illness.
Sunday: not feeling well, but disregarded it since she's seldom sick and she and her husband have been at home for many days. Took her temp, had a fever, went to bed. Was it Covid-19?
Monday: obvious redness, swelling, heat and pain up and down leg. Probably cellulitis. Diagnosed via telemedicine and antiobiotic prescribed.
Tuesday: slept
Wednesday: slept, or tried to. Foot very painful
Thursday: feeling lots better, no fever, but foot still very painful and toes are turning blue. Multiple calls to docs, visit to ER, photos to podiotrist. Second antibotic and pain killer prescribed.
Moral of the story: During a period of medical crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic, it's hard to get rapid medical care for other kinds of illnesses and injuries. An in-person visit to a doctor on Monday might have resulted in a more precise diagnosis and thus faster recovery.
In addition, this particular "adventure" had a couple more wrinkles. My daughter lives in Bouder which is experiencing a heavy, wet spring snowfall. With more than a foot of snow and snow plows not yet working, my daughter and her husband were stuck twice on their way to medical appointments. And because they were using the de-froster/de-fogger in their all-electric car, had to stop for a re-charge.
I, too, have had bouts of cellulitis; both my daughter and I have a genetic condition, normally harmless, that leaves us more suseptable to this kind of infection of the soft tissue. It starts with a small break in the skin, like a blister on a toe or a hangnail. In my experience it can get a lot worse very rapidly and I've been hospitalized twice. It's not a disease to ignore or treat lightly. I now have a colleciton of antibiotics on hand to begin treatment at the first sign of a recurrence. I've recommended that my daughter acquire the same.
The outcome: she's recovering, thankful that it was a treatable bacterial infection and not a virus.
I've also had to have a doctor appointment on the phone - not a good way to have a diagnosis. I decided to wait until I have the tests he wanted to make in order to avoid the hospital.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that a diagnosis was made and your daughter is on the road to recovery. Other medical problems than COVID19 still need to be given attention!